Residential solar systems for electricity and heating water are most often installed separately, competing for limited roof space and the greatest amount of exposure to sunlight. Some newer hybrid models are overcoming this situation by combining photovoltaic (PV) and solar thermal technologies in an integrated system that uses the same surface area to capture (more…)

I just had a very interesting conversation on one of my favorite topics: solar thermal, or concentrated solar power (CSP). I came across Ahura Energy of Campbell, CA on the fantastic online resource OnGreen.com, and spoke with Dr. Fareed Sfard, the company’s CEO, who boasts over 20 years experience in the Solar industry. (more…)

BrightSource Energy, Inc., developer of utility-scale solar thermal power plants, has raised an additional $90 million in its most recent equity financing, according to a U.S. securities law filing.

Keely Wachs, a spokesperson for BrightSource Energy, reports that the Company has now raised $420 million in equity financing to date.

California may be doing more than any other US state so far to reduce dependence on fossil fuel energy and emissions. This week California yet again took great strides toward a low-carbon economy, cracking down on carbon emissions while also moving to ensure fossil fuels are replaced with renewable power sources. Last week, as I’ve written (more…)

The hotel industry offers a variety of opportunities for workers who have attained solar certification.  One exciting example is the Planet Traveler Hotel on College Street.  The building, which once stood abandoned and in poor condition, was recently refurbished and is now being touted as Toronto’s greenest hotel.  Hotel owner, Anthony Aarts, and his business (more…)

How large can a Photo Voltaic (PV) solar farm be? It, of course, depends, on the available land space and the efficiency of the solar cells involved. Sarnia Solar Facility, deemed the world’s largest Photo Voltaic solar power station, has just opened in Canada. (more…)

By year’s end, regulators are expected to approve a host of solar energy projects in California that could eventually produce as much electricity as several nuclear plants. In an interview with Yale Environment 360, John Woolard, the CEO of the company that has begun (more…)

On August 4, Oakland-based BrightSource Energy Inc. got the thumbs up from the California Energy Commission to develop the Ivanpah Solar Energy Generating System (ISEGS), the world’s largest solar energy project.

The project has been fraught with difficulties since inception. In late 2009, (more…)

Each year, we come across a new set of discussions on the subject of Moore’s Law – the idea that the potency of technology doubles every two years. Intel co-founder Gordon Moore observed that the number of transistors that could be put onto an integrated circuit doubled with that regularity — and that this exponential growth persisted for an astonishingly long period of (more…)

An activist caravan to bring one of Jimmy Carter’s solar panels back to the White House symbolizes not only the time the U.S. has lost in developing new energy technologies – but also the urgent need for taking action on climate.

As I write this piece, we’re in the midst of a (biodiesel) road trip to Washington, D.C., (more…)