Solar Cells Info

Tampa, Florida, August 6, 2008
Source: Environmental News Service ENS

Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo is planning to install a solar system that can generate enough clean energy to power the zoo’s Skyfari sky ride and will be connected to the electric grid through the zoo’s main power system.  The zoo will partner with Tampa Electric and the University of South Florida’s Power Center for Utility Explorations to develop, design and test the 15-kilowatt solar photovoltaic system.
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With waning subsidies and other attractive markets, can Spain maintain its lead in solar tech?
By Carolyn Whelan, October 20, 2008
Source: Scientific American
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=is-the-sun-setting-on-solar-power-in-spain

On the outskirts of Seville, Spain, 600 rotating mirrors send shafts of light to a collector atop a soaring 380-foot- (115-meter-) tall tower. Its scalding 480-degree-Fahrenheit (250-degree-Celsius) steam drives a turbine generating a peak capacity of 11 megawatts (MW) of electricity for the national grid. This “power tower” is the first of nine to be built by Spanish engineering giant Abengoa Solar, which all told will produce enough electricity for 153,000 homes by 2013. (more…)

Source. DEAdirect.com, 23.10.2008
http://www.deadirect.co.uk/News/Micro-Generation/October-2008/
Village-hall-gets-photovoltaic-solar-panels?id=1260

A village community hall in the Lake District has been equipped with a photovoltaic roof as part of a £100,000 refurbishment.  The new roof has been paid for through donations and grants including the Lake District National Park and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.  Based on silicon, the photovoltaic solar panels convert the sun’s light into energy, which could be used to power the Lowick Community Hall directly or be fed into the national grid. (more…)

By Michael DeLoreto, Trenton, NJ, Oct 24 2008
Source: PolitickerNJ.com
http://www.politickernj.com/mdeloreto/24827/
gusciora-eyes-solar-power-new-schools

In light of the New Jersey Energy Master Plan’s call for 30 percent of the state’s energy to be produced from renewable sources by 2020, Assemblyman Reed Gusciora has introduced legislation which would mandate that new school construction include solar panels as part of the design.  Gusciora said using solar power in schools would not only help the state meet its energy goals, but also would save taxpayers money and promote growth in the “green jobs” sector. (more…)

Builders find the savings from cheap power is making solar homes more attractive
By Adam Aston, BusinessWeek Magazine, October 23, 2008
Source: BusinessWeek
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_44/
b4106088155598.htm?chan=rss_topEmailedStories_ssi_5

As global financial markets melted down in October, Congress handed a gift to America’s green energy industry: It renewed and broadened a set of tax credits for wind and solar power, geothermal, tidal energy, and more. The move did little to prop up eco-energy stocks, which have followed oil prices down. But the news did send a positive jolt to one of the economy’s darkest sectors: homebuilding. Or, more specifically, solar-powered homes. Consumers recognize that green homes “save money month in, month out,” says Rick Andreen, president of Shea Homes Active Lifestyles Communities in Scottsdale, Ariz. (more…)

by Zoe Sinclair, Dubai, 25 October 2008
Source: Khaleejtimes
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle08.asp?
xfile=data/theuae/2008/October/theuae_October578.xml&section=theuae

The Middle East’s largest photo-voltaic manufacturing plant will be set up in Dubai’s Technopark, it was announced on Friday evening at the opening of Green Dubai World Forum 2008.  The construction of the plant will begin next month and production is expected to start in the last quarter of 2010.
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By Jodi Weigand, Pittsburg Tribune-Review, October 25, 2008
Source: Pittsburgh Tribune
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_595132.html

The sun is setting on Pittsburgh to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars it received 10 months ago for solar energy initiatives.  The U.S. Department of Energy awarded the city $450,000 in 2007 through the Solar America Initiative. The grant is aimed at lowering the cost of solar electricity.  The money is to be used for planning solar energy projects, educating officials on building and zoning regulations and informing residents, said Jim Sloss, Pittsburgh’s energy and utilities manager. (more…)

By Gale Holland, Los Angeles Times, October 23, 2008
Source: Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environment/
la-mew-solar23-2008oct23,0,1453462.story

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has announced a private-public partnership to bring solar power to 15 California State University campuses and the system’s Long Beach headquarters.  “California is going green and we are doing it first and we are doing it fast,” Schwarzenegger said this week at a news conference at Cal State Dominguez Hills, according to a statement released by his office. “This partnership is a good deal for the state, the planet and our economy — all at no cost to taxpayers.” (more…)

By Craig Rubens, GigaOm, October 23, 2008
Source: New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/external/gigaom/2008/10/23/
23gigaom-duke-halves-solar-rooftop-plan-to-50m-13307.html

Duke Energy has decided to cut in half its $100 million distributed solar rooftop program after the utility was criticized during the permitting process by the Vote Solar Initiative and Wal-Mart, among others, the state Utility Commission over cost recovery and monopolistic practices. The new program will spend $50 million to install 10 megawatts of solar panels in North Carolina. Under the new plan the average customer will pay an extra 8 cents per month as opposed to an extra 34 cents under the original proposal. (more…)

San Francisco, CA. – Oct. 20, 2008
Source: GreenVolts press release
http://www.greenvolts.com/news_and_events/press/2008/10/20/

GreenVolts (www.greenvolts.com), a leader in concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) technology, today announced that it was the recipient of a $250,000 grant from the California Energy Commission’s Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) Program. GreenVolts’ proposal, entitled Low Cost Installation of Concentrating Photovoltaic, was rated highest among all applicants to this highly competitive grant program. (more…)