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Who'd have thunk it: The entire world could be running on 100% renewable energy by 2030, says a new study published in the journal Energy Policy. All that's needed is 4 million 5-megawatt wind turbines, 1.7 billion 3-kilowatt rooftop solar power systems, and about 90,000 300-megawatt solar power plants — and a shitload of political will. No problem? (via MNN) Va-va-voom: Do you like......read more
Most of us would love to power our homes via have solar panels but forking over tens of thousands of dollars to make it happen just isn't doable. Enter the lease. Leasing solar panels allows homeowners to pay a relatively small amount of money each month, at around the cost of their current utility bill. So in other words, you could more or less exchange the cost of your electricity bill each......read more
For most of us, the vision of a solar-powered future conjures a mental image of rooftops covered in photovoltaic panels. But PV tech is actually only a few decades old, and humans have been harnessing the sun's power for millenia. Concentrated solar power (CSP), or "solar thermal," is an ancient, low-tech version of solar energy capture, in which the sun's heat energy is used to boil water and......read more
This 550 square-foot cabin sits on a tiny parcel of land on a remote Maine island. Designed by Alex Scott Porter, the getaway is entirely off-the-grid. In the architect's words: This three-season retreat house is situated on the outermost inhabited island in Maine. The island has no roads, stores, electricity, water service, year-round inhabitants or ferry service – no grid. The house ......read more
General Electric has announced plans to build the largest solar panel manufacturing plant in the United States. The project is estimated to cost around $600 million, and will deliver about 400 megawatts of production of thin-film solar.The company hopes that by going bigger on the production side they can deliver economies of scale and make solar panels more affordable for the masses.......read more
Grab Your Shades: The future looks bright for concentrated solar power. Google announced a $168 million investment in Brightsource Energy's Ivanpah Solar Plant in the Mojave Desert, which will be the largest concentrated solar plant in the world. (via GOOD) Fancy Footwork: Dutch designer Diederik Schneemann crafted a colorful collection of vases and lamps made from recycled flip-flops found......read more
Solar power advocates scored big this week with the announcement of a $2.1 billion federal loan guarantee for the Blythe Solar Power Project in California's Riverside Country. The 484-megawatt solar thermal development joins a list of 22 other solar, wind, geothermal, and biofuel projects that have received a total of $21 billion in conditional commitments. The Obama administration has sent some......read more
Well, renewable power is not in last place anymore. According to the Monthly Energy Review published by the Energy Information Administration, renewable energy production has passed nuclear energy and is continuing to grow rapidly. By the agency's definition, renewable energy includes biofuels, geothermal, solar, hydroelectric, and wind power. Together, these sources currently......read more
On Friday, General Electric announced plans to build a $300 million solar panel plant in Colorado. The factory, near Denver, will be the largest in the U.S. The announcement is a strong show of confidence for the solar industry, which has been rocked by a string of bankruptcies and falling prices. GE, a global leader in wind turbine manufacturing, is entering the solar panel business at a......read more
The prospects for getting a global agreement on limiting greenhouse gases may be grim, but the world is shifting toward consuming more renewable energy in any case. According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, last year investors poured $187 billion into electricity from renewable sources (wind, sun, biomass, etc.), versus $157 billion for fossil fuels, marking the first time ever that clean......read more
