Here’s a video that shows where I spent my afternoon: on a tour of the (currently) 2 megawatt solar photovoltaics facility at Fort Hunter Liggett in Central California, now the largest solar array on a military base in the U.S. – and soon to be a microgrid. As I took a tour with some colleagues, work was underway for Phase Two, which will add two more MW, and enough battery (more…)

Given all the variables involved, it’s not surprising that predicting the efficiency of solar panels over time is so challenging. Every residential solar photovoltaic (PV) installation is unique. The amount of sunlight exposure and air temperature may not only vary from installation to installation, but from day to day.

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New Energy Technologies’ SolarWindow is a promising photovoltaic solar technology that we have been following for a while. SolarWindow’s promise is to generate electricity on see-through glass. In conjunction with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the company has successfully fabricated the largest-area organic photovoltaic (OPV) module (more…)

San Jose added more residential solar photovoltaic (PV) systems last year than any other city in California, according to the latest PV Solar Report, a quarterly analysis conducted by solar company SunRun.

San Jose’s number of home solar systems in 2011 was up 45.4% from just the year before, a dramatic (more…)

As anyone who has taken on a remodeling project knows, more time can be spent preparing for the project than for the actual installation. Homeowners who try to install a residential solar photovoltaic (PV) system often face complicated processes to get the permits that will not only ensure that their projects are up to (more…)

As the United Nations climate change conference rages on, quite literally, in Durban, South Africa, experts from COP17’s host city point to one alternative energy source that could help it mitigate its emissions: solar power.

According to Dick Berlijn, of Subsolar Energy, (more…)

Hawaii’s commitment to alternative energy recently reached a milestone.

According to Business Week, Hawaiian Electric Co. has reached 20 megawatts of solar photovoltaic energy on the island of Oahu. The utility said the mark was reached in July when they installed Easter Seals’ PV system. Easter Seals, a (more…)

As part of an official initiative to attract clean energy companies to the province of Ontario in Canada, Samsung and SMA Solar Technology have entered a partnership to build industrial-size solar inverters at Celestica’s facilities in Toronto.

Inverters are electric devices that convert energy (more…)

Google announced last week that it has agreed to make its first clean energy project investment in Europe. The company will be injecting US$5 million into a solar photovoltaic plant in Germany.

According to Google’s European Policy blog, the transaction still requires the formal approval of the German authorities (more…)

Ontario in Canada has big plans for renewable energy and a new contract signed by a group of companies last week signals the region is working seriously towards energy sustainability.

The deal in question involves a contract to supply and support a 5 MW ground mounted solar photovoltaic (PV) system, (more…)