After nearly a decade of delays, the largest wind farm in the U.S. is finally moving forward in one of California’s remaining premium wind resource regions, a spot where the Tehachapi Mountains touch the Mojave Desert in southern California.

Developed by New York-based Terra-Gen Power, the project is expected to grow to 3 (more…)

Even outsiders know that the solar energy industry has experienced huge growth during the past few years. This is particularly true of 2009, where solar energy prospered in spite of a worldwide recession. In the U.S., this prosperity is largely due to the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

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A reader points out that in talking about utility scale solar, only mature technologies are used — usually 20 to 30 years mature or more. He observes how long it’s taken PV to be seriously considered for plants over 10mW. But he goes on to talk about the Stirling Dish System, noticing that the system holds the efficiency world record for sun to grid electricity at 31.5%, and has (more…)

When I first saw the SunCatcher, a new dish-shaped solar reflector that powers a piston motor to generate electricity, I thought “this is pretty cool.” But it also gave new meaning to the well-worn phrase “there’s nothing new under the sun.” Because although the SunCatcher won the “Best Commercialized Technological Innovation Award” at this year’s (more…)

Energy investors and entrepreneurs often refer to the period between technologies being developed in the lab and making their way to the marketplace as a "valley of death" due to the multitude of factors that can prevent those advancements from reaching the consumer. Last week, just miles from the real Death Valley in Nevada, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and I announced a venture that will help promising solar technologies make that journey to the market. The Nevada Test site, which was once used to test nuclear weapons, will now be dedicated to testing new (more…)

A $400 billon (£240 billion) plan to provide Europe with solar power from the Sahara desert moved a step closer to reality with the formation of a consortium of 12 companies to carry out the work. Known as the Desertec Industrial Initiative (DDI), the German-led consortium consists of some of country’s biggest engineering and power companies, along with Munich Re, the largest reinsurer in the world.

Since the project was first announced in July, the DII has gained support from a wide variety of political and governmental institutions in the Middle East, North Africa and Europe.

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