Solar media flub
News of Silevo’s decision to build new solar factory in Buffalo met with deafening silence in the trades Aside from a handful of notable exceptions, there is little solar cell and module manufacturing going on in the United States. One would think that the renewable...
Happy days for U.S. solar big dogs
After boffo quarters, SunPower moves to add production capacity while First Solar makes serious manufacturing cost reduction, efficiency progress Having the quarterly earnings releases from two of the big dogs of U.S. solar—SunPower and First Solar—on successive days...
Solar in distant lands
New deployment, development and production in Fiji, El Salvador, Brazil, Lithuania, and Turkey underscore solar’s increasing geographic diversity As followers and fans of the Curator know, I love finding new and unexpected locales where solar power has been deployed...
The commercial embrace of solar
New report underscores surge in solar PV installations in the U.S. business community When I was growing up, if someone said, “he means business,” the phrase implied that the guy was serious in intent and focused on his objectives. The play on words inherent in the...
Solar-powered suds
South Coast Solar's video toasts Abita Brewing PV installation job in Louisiana Two of my favorite market disruptions–solar power and craft beer–converge when a brewery puts photovoltaics and/or solar hot water on its property. A freshly brewed example of the...
Big-numbered solar
Solana starts commercial operation, Topaz crosses the five-million module mark, SolarCity plops down big bucks for Zep, a grand solar day in the life of German renewable generation Hundreds of megawatts (and gigawatt-hours), millions of panels, tens and hundreds of...
Of solar commodification and hydrogen passivation
BNEP’s Jenny Chase sees solar as a commodity, while UNSW’s Stuart Wenham touts processing technology that offers low-cost differentiation Two leading lights in the solar industry provide different perspectives on the ongoing “PV modules are/are not a commodity”...
EMP and solar PV in the same breath
Protecting from electromagnetic pulse events in solar installations, using satellites to help operate and maintain isolated PV power plants Solar photovoltaic system designers, installers, operators and owners have to contend with a lot of natural and unnatural...
Solar Decathlon state of mind
A brief tribute to this year’s inspirational and aspirational solar-powered sustainability competition IRVINE, CA–The 19 homes in this year’s Solar Decathlon competition share many commonalities: the aspirational names, the recycled and other sustainable building...
What does the big shutdown mean for solar?
Renewable Energy World, SEIA summarize areas where U.S. government shutdown will likely affect solar, renewables programs For the first time since late 1995, a fractious impasse in Washington has led to a shutdown of the U.S. government. While the mainstream media...