Rise & Shine: July 20, 2009
The Rise & Shine is your daily source for all solar-industry news. Brought to you by Sweet Solar Home and the Experts at SunRun.
CALIFORNIA NEWS
SunValley Solar Inc. and Canadian Solar Team with GRID Alternatives to Provide Solar Energy to Low-Income Families Across California
Partnership Empowers Communities in Need With Renewable Energy Equipment and Services to Help Reduce Energy Costs & Prevent Green House Emissions.
Closed Landfill May Become Solar Energy Site
The Napa-Vallejo Waste Management Authority is in talks with a Vallejo energy company to install a $25 million to $35 million solar array atop a closed landfill outside American Canyon.
Los Angeles, China’s Jiangsu Province Sign MOU on Solar Energy Cooperation
The City of Los Angeles and China’s Jiangsu Province signed here on Friday a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on solar energy cooperation, the first of its kind between the United States and China.
NATIONAL NEWS
Solar Company Tries New Way to Make Sun Affordable
For about $1,000 down, SunRun will put solar panels on a customer’s house and then sell the homeowner electricity generated by the panels just like a utility would.
Corporation Commission May Regulate Solar Power Providers
Solar providers planning to sell power may end up being regulated by the Arizona Corporation Commission.
Solar Power International 2009 Announces RFK as Keynote
Kennedy will be joined by top solar and electric power leaders to discuss key market challenges and opportunities amid the global race to bring solar energy to scale.
Four New Brunswick Agencies Look to Solar Power Their Buildings
The City Council, Board of Education, New Brunswick Parking Authority and New Brunswick Housing Authority have reached a shared-services agreement to jointly explore the feasibility of placing solar energy panels on some or all of the nearly three dozen buildings operated by the four entities.
Solar Plant Considered for Sonorita-Area Homes
A solar photovoltaic energy plant capable of supplying electricity to up to 190 homes in the Sonoita area, southeast of Tucson, is being considered by a rural electrical cooperative.
SunSpec Alliances Works to Advance Renewable Energy Standards
Standards ultimately drive down costs, enabling manufacturers to embed more intelligence into system components and streamline the integration and management of renewable energy systems.
MARKETS & MARKET RESEARCH
Public-Private Partnerships – the Silver Lining for Solar
Public-private partnerships using the PPA model can help the nation begin to achieve its economic and environmental goals right now as well as in the long term.
True or False: China Will Be a Bigger Solar Market Than the U.S.
Two Chinese companies have preliminary deals to build 2.3 gigawatts of solar projects for local governments in China. Will It surpass the U.S.?
GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
Proposed Energy Bill Would Impact Everyday Life
Last week, the heads of the Energy Department, Agriculture Department, Interior Department and Environmental Protection Agency urged a Senate panel to pass a bill similar to the one the House narrowly cleared late last month.
FINANCIAL NEWS & MARKETS
GCL Solar Energy Withdraws IPO
GCL Solar Energy Technology Holdings Inc. withdrew its filing for an initial public offering as a result of unfavorable market conditions.
German Solar Firms See Brighter Sales in 2nd Quarter
Sales figures from German solar companies rose at the start of this year while a burst of foreign demand pointed to further growth, engineering industry association VDMA said on Thursday.
TECHNOLOGY
Next Generation of Solar Dishes Use Less Steel
Sandia morphed the SunCatcher’s original rectangular design into a radial structure that looks like a 37 1/2-foot diameter satellite dish with mirrors and allows “the same structural stiffness with far less steel,” he said.
Kyocera Solar Modules Exceed Performance Expectations at PPL Renewable Energy Park
The 2,500 Kyocera KC200 modules are performing at 105 percent of expected output after nearly three years of operation.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Alice Springs Program Signs Up 1,000th Customer
One thousand households or 10% of all homes in Alice Springs are now committed to being more energy efficient though the Alice Solar City Project. Celebrations took place in the Smart Living Centre this week when Melinda Hassall became the 1000th customer to register her home.
500 kilowatt PV System to be Constructed on Sentosa Island
The Resorts World at Sentosa in Singapore, is building a 500 kWp solar PV System. It will be completed in October this year and will become the largest single PV installation in Singapore.
Turning Solar Fantasy Into Reality: Desertec Part Deux
We asked Schott Solar CSP and Siemens AG what the game plan is for pulling off what — at a cost of $555 billion and with a goal of supplying 15 percent of Europe’s power — will be the most ambitious solar plan ever.
India Plans to Develop 60 Solar Cities
The Indian government is planning to develop 60 solar cities through renewable energy installations to reduce usage of conventional energy sources by around ten per cent.
Not Many Takers for UT’s Solar Power Plant
Sources said the plan was mooted more than two years back with a 25 MW plant project and eventually the department got more ambitious to aim for up to 250 MW of green power in the plant.
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