China Is Making Bets on Concentrating Solar Power As in a coal plant, concentrating solar power sites like this one near Seville, Spain, heat water to create steam that turns a turbine. ... Solar, Wind Tax Breaks in Pipeline for Arizona, Rest of U.S. Six solar power equipment companies in Arizona’s Phoenix metro area, for example, are earmarked to receive $30 million in federal tax credits should they be built. Not only more solar power resources, but also higher-paying manufacturing jobs would ensue. A further $45 million in tax breaks is on the table for five Arizona companies, should they expand solar equipment or wind turbine facilities in other states. Details are forthcoming, however, as locations for the projects—and even the projects themselves—have yet to be confirmed. Still, it’s a great jolt of energy (if you’ll excuse the pun) to the Arizona renewable energy sector, which is still in the aggressive stages of growth. Activist aims to fly around the world on solar power Bertrand Piccard, 51 from Switzerland, plans to push the boundaries of solar power by flying around the world in a solar aircraft. ... Changing currents for local power companies Progress is the only one among Florida's five largest utilities not actively pursuing a major solar-power plant. Officials hint that renewable-energy ... Who-s Sleeping Now? In the last year alone, so many new solar panel makers emerged in China that the price of solar power has fallen from roughly 59 cents a kilowatt hour to 16 ... GE Narrows Scope of Solar Power Investment But despite an underlying enthusiasm for solar power, in the past year GE hasn't ignored corporate shakeouts and economic pressures squeezing that industry. Ecomagination, the brainchild of GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt, means wind and gas turbines, engines, high-efficiency appliances, smart meters and clean-tech investments. For solar power in 2009 and 2010, Ecomagination has meant guessing the direction of a capricious, capital-intensive solar panel manufacturing sector -- then choosing a winner and a loser.At the end of December, GE pulled the plug on its solar panel plant in Newark, Del., selling it to Taiwan manufacturer Motech Industries. GE scaled back assembly line operations there pr... Green comes from bottom up and top down It's developing home fuel cells that make electricity and heat water, back-up batteries to store solar power, and a home energy management system viewed ... Western Riverside Co. Regional Wastewater Authority Dedicates 1-Megawatt SunPower Solar Power System "Solar power systems help public agencies reduce costs and benefit the community by reducing the amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere," explained the Authority's chairperson, Brenda Dennstedt, who is on the board of directors at Western Municipal Water District, an Authority partner. "This system will generate the equivalent of about 25 percent of the power needed to run the wastewater treatment plant, which is also about the same amount of power that would supply roughly 200 homes each year." Under the financing program used for the project, SunPower enters into power purchase agreements with qualified customers, and Wells Fargo finances and owns the system that S...

Will Google Energy Power Its Data Centers? « Data Center Knowledge Google has previously invested in thermal solar power which use the sun's heat to create steam to power electric generators. That's a different approach ...

U.S. Navy Brings Solar Power to Pearl Harbor Catch an aerial view of Pearl Harbor and it's easy to see the potential for rooftop solar energy. Parts of the US Navy base in Hawaii are open space but ...