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+13 +1
Solar Parity Coming Faster Than Expected
Back in 2012, ILSR released a pair of reports on the solar Rooftop Revolution, noting that one-third of Americans would live in a metropolitan area where the cost of solar energy from their roof would be less than the cost of power from the utility by 2021.
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+13 +1
Solar cell sets world record with a stabilized efficiency of 13.6%
In a new study, scientists have reported a world record stabilized efficiency of 13.6% for a triple-junction thin-film silicon solar cell, which is a newer version of the single-junction thin-film silicon solar cell that has been used in commercial products since the 1970s. This value edges out the previous record of 13.44%, and the researchers expect that a few reasonable improvements will push it above 14%.
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+18 +1
Solar Impulse to Land in Japan Because of Poor Weather
Poor weather forces solar-powered plane Solar Impulse to make unscheduled stop in Japan en route from China to Hawaii.
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+15 +1
California Set To Give Solar Panels To Low-Income Families For Free
California is the best state in the country if you want to go solar – but only if you’re rich enough. Due to the steep upfront costs of around $15,000, only those from middle- to upper-income families can afford to install solar arrays. A novel initiative is, however, looking to change that. This new project hopes to help disadvantaged communities see the sun in a different light.
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-1 +1
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/dam/assets/150521072918-china-richest-man-loses-15-billion-in-an-hour-00002012-1024x576.jpg
China's richest man, Li Hejun, is having a really bad week. The chairman of solar panel firm Hanergy (HNGSF) lost $15 billion on Wednesday when shares in the company plummeted 47% in Hong Kong trading -- in about an hour. The company saw $18.6 billion wiped off its market value. Trading in Hanergy shares was halted Wednesday pending release -- the company said -- of an announcement "containing inside information."
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+10 +1
LightSail spacecraft set for first test flight
It's time to go space sailin'! The LightSail is on schedule for its first test flight later this month.
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+18 +1
Dutch solar road makes enough energy to power household
Engineers in the Netherlands say energy-generating road surface is more successful than expected, six months into trial.
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+16 +1
‘Massive’ solar expansion by 2050 may be necessary for climate, MIT reports
Massively expanding solar power may be necessary by 2050 to reduce the impacts of fossil fuels on the climate.
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+17 +1
Saving sunshine for a rainy day
The Sun is a huge source of energy. In just one hour planet Earth is hit by so much sunshine that humankind could cover its energy needs for an entire year if only we knew how to harvest and save it. But storing sunshine is not trivial. Now a student has researched his way to a breakthrough which may prove pivotal for technologies trying to capture the energy of the sun, and saving it for a rainy day.
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+18 +1
Solar PV Achieving Grid Parity in Chile
Chile's one of the world's fastest growing energy markets, thanks in large measure to reforms that center on three guiding tenets: enhancing energy security, boosting economic efficiency and assuring environmental sustainability.
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+14 +1
'Mega' floating solar power plants open in Japan
Two floating solar power plants capable of providing electricity for 1,000 homes have been completed in Japan.
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+20 +1
Solar power will soon be as cheap as coal
Inside a sprawling single-story office building in Bedford, Massachusetts, in a secret room known as the Growth Hall, the future of solar power is cooking at more than 2,500 °F. Behind closed doors and downturned blinds, custom-built ovens with ambitious names like “Fearless” and “Intrepid” are helping to perfect a new technique of making silicon wafers, the workhorse of today’s solar panels. If all goes well, the new method might cut cost of solar power by more than 20% in the next few years.
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+3 +1
Fossil Fuels Just Lost the Race Against Renewables
The race for renewable energy has passed a turning point. The world is now adding more capacity for renewable power each year than coal, natural gas, and oil combined. And there's no going back. The shift occurred in 2013, when the world added 143 gigawatts of renewable electricity capacity, compared with 141 gigawatts in new plants that burn fossil fuels, according to an analysis presented Tuesday at the Bloomberg New Energy Finance annual summit in New York.
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+14 +1
Storing Solar Energy: A great idea caught on contested ground
Combining solar power systems with energy storage promises cost-savings and value enhancements achievable for both technologies, but in key states, utilities' protection of their bottom lines is getting in the way
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+10 +1
California leads nation in solar installations as world sees 14% increase
California became the first state to generate more than 5% of its electricity from utility solar, according a new report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. California's utility-scale (1 megawatt or larger) solar plants generated a record 9.9 million mega watt hours (MWh) of electricity in 2014, an increase of 6.1 million MWh from 2013.
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+20 +1
Invisible Solar Cells That Could Power Skyscrapers
Silicon Valley startup Ubiquitous Energy is making the world’s first transparent solar cells, a technology that could greatly expand the reach of solar power. Their technology is an invisible film that can go on any surface and generate power, which could lead to cell phones and tablets that never run out of batteries — or skyscrapers that can use their massive banks of windows as solar panels. Bloomberg's Sam Grobart reports.
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+17 +1
France decrees new rooftops must be covered in plants or solar panels
Rooftops on new buildings built in commercial zones in France must either be partially covered in plants or solar panels, under a law approved on Thursday. Green roofs have an isolating effect, helping reduce the amount of energy needed to heat a building in winter and cool it in summer. They also retain rainwater, thus helping reduce problems with runoff, while favouring biodiversity and giving birds a place to nest in the urban jungle, ecologists say.
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+19 +1
Scientists make strides in beaming solar power from space
The idea of powering humanity by gathering an endless supply of solar energy from space has taken a huge step towards becoming a reality. Scientists working for JAXA, Japan's space administration, have announced a major breakthrough in wireless power transmission ... in that they've actually been able to do it with a high degree of accuracy for once. The team reportedly beamed 1.8 kilowatts, enough juice to power an electric tea kettle, more than 50 meters to a small receiver without any wires.
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+18 +1
Successful test raises prospects of space-based solar power generation
Japan’s space agency has successfully transmitted electricity converted into microwaves in an experiment that moves the world closer to receiving energy generated by orbiting solar panels.
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+17 +1
Solar Will Dominate World Energy Supply in Just 15 Years
Deutsche Bank has produced a 175 page report that will have the Koch bros and their bought and paid for minions as well as every oil, coal and natural gas company weeping in their Chevas Regal or Glenfiddich. The report suggests that solar generated energy will be the dominant source of energy worldwide within the next 15 years. Not only that, but the solar industry will generate $5 trillion in revenue in that time while displacing fossil fuels. Ohhh...I LOVE it!!
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