Wed, 16 MAY 2012 20:27:57 AEST Wed, 16 MAY 2012 20:27:57 AEST en-us Silicon Energy has announced that it has selected Motech Americas, a solar company with a 20-year heritage of manufacturing the highest quality solar panels, as its exclusive supplier of standard photovoltaic solar modules for its expanding sales and systems business in select markets. Modules have been manufactured at Motech's Newark site for over 20 years. Under the terms of the agreemen]]> Wed, 16 MAY 2012 20:27:57 AEST With no sign that the oversupply of solar polysilicon is ending, buyers are shifting their purchasing activity to the bargain-basement spot market, contributing to a sharp 11 percent drop in overall pricing in April, according to an IHS iSuppli PV Perspective Market Brief and the IHS iSuppli Polysilicon Price Index from information and analytics provider IHS. The weighted average selling p]]> Wed, 16 MAY 2012 20:27:57 AEST At the 2012 LIGHTFAIR International tradeshow in Las Vegas, Nevada, Carmanah Technologies is launching the EG145 solar outdoor street lighting system: the company's latest addition to its most cost-effective solar-powered outdoor lighting system series to-date. With the addition of this next-generation EG-series system, which provides freeway-level light output from a compact form designed]]> Wed, 16 MAY 2012 20:27:57 AEST A growing number of businesses are investing in renewable energy technology in order to help them become more energy efficient and reduce costs. Businesses of all sizes are taking advantage of the change in planning regulations which means commercial Solar PV installations under 50kWp electricity no longer require planning permission. This paves the way for them to be treated in the same w]]> Wed, 16 MAY 2012 20:27:57 AEST With its daily supply of solar energy increasing, NASA's durable Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has driven off the sunward-tilted outcrop, called Greeley Haven, where it worked during its fifth Martian winter. Opportunity's first drive since Dec. 26, 2011, took the rover about 12 feet (3.67 meters) northwest and downhill on Tuesday, May 8. The rover operations team at NASA's Jet Propul]]> Wed, 16 MAY 2012 20:27:57 AEST In recent years, sports arenas and stadiums have become champions of sustainability for both social and financial reasons. The STAPLES Center, home to the Los Angeles Lakers, has 5% of its total power provided by solar panels, while the Portland Trail Blazers' Rose Garden Arena saved 4 million kWh of electricity, roughly $424,000 in operational savings, between 2008 and 2010 with their own green]]> Wed, 16 MAY 2012 20:27:57 AEST GeoGenix has announced that it has signed 20 new contracts to install rooftop residential solar systems at Four Seasons at Mapleton, an age-restricted single-family development in the Burlington County, N.J., township of Mansfield. GeoGenix started installing residential systems at Four Seasons at Mapleton in 2007. Including the 20 new contracts, GeoGenix has - or will have - installed sol]]> Wed, 16 MAY 2012 20:27:57 AEST A detailed description of development of the first practical artificial leaf - a milestone in the drive for sustainable energy that mimics the process, photosynthesis, that green plants use to convert water and sunlight into energy - appears in the ACS journal Accounts of Chemical Research. The article notes that unlike earlier devices, which used costly ingredients, the new device is made]]> Wed, 16 MAY 2012 20:27:57 AEST A unique, 23-acre solar installation at Arizona Western College (AWC) in Yuma, Ariz. being monitored for performance by AlsoEnergy was recently recognized with the PV Project of Distinction award at PV America West. The project brings together five distinct PV technologies and is the first of its kind in the country to combine workforce development with financial and performance monitoring for u]]> Wed, 16 MAY 2012 20:27:57 AEST Q.CELLS has received an order for 7 Megawattpeak (MWp) of solar modules by IKEA. Q.CELLS' CIGS thin-film modules Q.SMART will be installed on the roof-top of the main warehouse of IKEA in the Northern Italian town of Piacenza within the coming months. The project was initiated by the Italian companies F.lli Zaffaroni and GreenPowerTech. "We are very proud of this order, which not only emph]]> Wed, 16 MAY 2012 20:27:57 AEST SPI Solar has announced that it has entered into an engineering, procurement and construction ("EPC") agreement with a subsidiary of KDC Solar ("KDC Solar") to design and build multiple solar energy facilities ("SEF") for KDC Solar at the Mountain Creek Resort and Grand Cascades Golf Resort in Vernon, New Jersey. KDC Solar will own and operate the SEFs. The SEFs being developed at the reso]]> Wed, 16 MAY 2012 20:27:57 AEST Northland Power and Aecon Group have announced Aecon's wholly-owned subsidiary, Miwel Construction Limited, has been awarded a contract to construct six 10MW solar photovoltaic (PV) generation projects in Ontario. Each of the six projects will be constructed on approximately 85 acres of land, and will consist of over 40,000 PV solar modules mounted on fixed structural supports. The solar m]]> Wed, 16 MAY 2012 20:27:57 AEST Heliatek Gmbh has set a new world record for organic solar cells. The company has commissioned SGS, an accredited and independent testing facility, with a measurement campaign of its latest organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells. The result of this campaign is a new world record for OPV with 10.7 % cell efficiency on 1.1 cm2. It also confirms the superior low light and high temperature performances of]]> Wed, 16 MAY 2012 20:27:57 AEST Solar thermal hot water and space heating systems are an attractive option for commercial enterprises who want to incorporate renewable energy into their operations. These systems harness the free power of the sun to directly heat the water and air that circulates in their processes, buildings and offices. While solar thermal is gaining in popularity in the commercial sector, recent develo]]> Wed, 16 MAY 2012 20:27:57 AEST REC Systems has sold a 6 MW solar power plant that it successfully developed, financed, and constructed in Bitterfeld, Germany to two investment companies in the Chorus Group. Originally developed by Grune Energien GmbH, REC Systems took full control of the project in September 2011 - when it was less than 50 percent developed - and provided the necessary project development, financing, an]]> Wed, 16 MAY 2012 20:27:57 AEST