Solar Cells Info

Greenpeace International /February 26, 2007
Source: American Chronicle
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=21334

Tel Aviv, Israel – Greenpeace welcomes the announcement from the Ministry of Infrastructure that the proposed solar power plant in Eshalim, originally proposed in 2001, will finally be put out to tender to private contractors.  Greenpeace Mediterranean has led the campaign for renewable energy power plants to be constructed in the region. In 2005, the organisation submitted a report to the Ministry of Infrastructure, which proved that the construction of solar power stations would generate a profit of NIS 810 million annually, would create 5,000 new jobs, and would turn Israel into a world leader in the export of renewable technology to help combat climate change. The decision today is a good first step in this direction.
(more…)

February 27, 2007
Source: Bernama.com
http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/state_news/news.php?id=248929

PULAU KAPAS (Marang), Feb 27 (Bernama) — Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB)’s hybrid electricity supply system in Pulau Kapas is expected to come on stream in May at the latest. The system that uses both diesel and solar energy, can generate up to 100 megawatt of electricity.  TNB Distribution senior general manager (region two operation) Ir Azman Mohd said the system could supply electricity to eight commercial customers comprising resort operators on the island.
(more…)

Feb 27, 2007
Source: Reuters News

MADRID (Reuters) – The first part of a major 300 megawatt (MW) solar power operation in southern Spain is finished and could start producing electricity in April, its owner Abengoa said on Tuesday. The first of two solar thermal power plants is finished and now being prepared for production, with a capacity of 11 MW.

Construction of a second tower, with 20 MW of potential, started last year. Both use mirrors to concentrate the sun’s rays onto the top of a 100 meter (300 foot) tower where they produce steam to drive a turbine.  Santiago Seage, managing director of Abengoa’s solar division, said it was the first commercial plant in the world to use this technology.
(more…)

Move toward investing in solar power for retail outlets is delayed, according to people familiar with process.
by Martin LaMonica, Staff Writer, CNET News.com /February 28, 2007
Source: CNET News.com
http://news.com.com/Wal-Mart+stalls+solar-power+plan/2100-11392_3-6162850.html

Wal-Mart Stores’ choice of providers for a solar-power investment has been put off past its anticipated date, according to people familiar with the process. The retail giant at the end of last year put out a request for proposals to suppliers soliciting bids on what could be a large-scale installation of solar electric power at company stores.

Responses to bids, initially expected at the end of February, are being delayed, according to two people with knowledge of the situation. One company bidding on the deal said Wal-Mart’s decision has been put off four to six weeks, which would put the date for bid responses in April.
(more…)

Feb 16, 2007
Source:  Prensa Latina /Latin American News Agency
http://www.plenglish.com/Article.asp?ID=%7B4C2416F9-D969-4176-84B8-63E257020489%7D

Caracas,  (Prensa Latina) Venezuela has installed 87 photovoltaic systems (solar panels) in distant regions of the country as part of an energy diversification program underway in this rich South American country. The director of the Foundation for the Development of Electrical Service, Rafael Salazar, told the Bolivarian News Agency (ABN) that the so-called Energetic Revolution Mission will replace 52 million incandescent for energy saving bulbs.
(more…)

The Family YMCA of the Desert seemed the perfect showcase for the California Solar Initiative.

K Kaufmann /The Desert Sun / February 25, 2007
source: Desert Sun
http://www.thedesertsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070225/NEWS07/702250328/1006
With about $90,000 worth of solar panels and state rebates on the system, the Y’s Palm Desert building on San Pablo Avenue would be knocking about a third off its monthly energy bills – which can run between $4,000 and $5,000 during summer peak periods. The savings would go into tuition grants to help kids and families take part in Y programs, and set an example for Palm Desert businesses and residents to jump on board the city’s five-year plan to cut energy use 30 percent, said director Rob Ballew.

(more…)

Bonnie Eslinger, The Examiner  /Feb 22, 2007
Source: Examiner.com
http://www.examiner.com/a-579028~S_F__seeks_partner_for_solar_program.html

SAN FRANCISCO – The City is ready to partner with a private company to develop large-scale solar power facilities — and has $100 million of bond revenue to bring to the table — Mayor Gavin Newsom announced at a gathering of green technology entrepreneurs and investors Wednesday. Although voters approved a $100 million revenue bond measure in 2001 to pay for solar equipment on city-owned buildings, that money has gone unspent because of a restriction that required each solar project to generate power that would cost the same or less than using electricity from the traditional power grid, according to Tony Winnicker, a spokesman for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission.
(more…)

By Sharon Kedmi / Feb 22, 2007
Source: Haaertz
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/828955.html

After years of delays and postponements, a tender for building Israel’s first solar-power plant is to be issued this year. The 250-megawatt plant will be built on 4,000 dunams (1,000 acres) in the Ashalim complex in the Negev. In 2001, the cabinet decided that by 2007, 2 percent of the country’s energy production – or some 300 megawatts – would come from alternative-energy sources. To date, only 5 megawatts are being generated by such plants.
(more…)

By Barbara E. Hernandez
CONTRA COSTA TIMES / 22 Feb 2007
source: Contra Costa Times
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/local/states/california/16755975.htm

DANVILLE – One of the nation’s leading home builders pledged to install solar power systems in all its new homes in the Bay Area, representatives for Lennar Corp. said Wednesday. Lennar made the announcement at its upscale, all-solar development in the Milano housing community in Danville. Three other projects in San Ramon slated to open this year will be solar-powered. “Our marketing platform is that everything is included,” said Peter Beucke, vice president of the Bay Area division of Lennar. “So every home in Milano will come with a solar package. … It’s now a standard inclusion in our homes.”
(more…)

Derek Sands /UPI /February 20, 2007
Source: Middle East Times
http://www.metimes.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20070220-044724-3240r

CAIRO —  Egypt may soon harness the same physics that a child uses to burn an ant with a magnifying glass, to generate electricity from the sun, a move that reflects the growth of Concentrating Solar Power technology worldwide. Plans to build a 150 megawatt (MW) combined solar- and gas-powered electric plant near Cairo are part of a larger effort by Egypt, and others in the region, to expand their use of renewable energies, including solar, wind, and nuclear power.

The Egyptian project, set to be built in Kuraymat, 104 kilometers (65 miles) south of Cairo, will use parabolic-trough Concentrating Solar Power, a technology that has been used on a limited scale for more than 20 years, but has recently attracted attention in the Middle East because of efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and due to concerns over the future of petroleum supplies.
(more…)