Home: Renewable Energy News: March 2009

Renewable Energy News

MARCH 2009 | View archive list |

Tuesday 31 March, 2009

China's Major Solar Farm Push
Solar power equipment is already quite cheap in China as the country is home to some of the world's largest solar panel manufacturers, but the Chinese government last week launched an ambitious program that will see new solar farms dotting the landscape at an even more frenetic rate.

Poland Warms To Renewable Energy
Poland is well known for its love affair with coal, However, that is rapidly changing as the EU, of which Poland is member, has decreed that 15% of energy production must be from renewable sources by 2020.

Monday 30 March, 2009

Suntech Pluto - Solar Cell Efficiency Breakthrough
Suntech Power Holdings, the world's largest manufacturer of solar panels, has announced further details of its Pluto technology that has seen substantial improvements in solar cell conversion efficiencies.

Wind Power And Cavern Batteries
One of the major challenges of wind power is the sometimes fickle nature of the resource. However, technology to store compressed air underground that can then be released during calm periods may be the solution.

Friday 27 March, 2009

Large Solar Farms Threatening The Environment - The Solution
While solar power is generally perceived as clean and green and small solar farms can make good use of unproductive or degraded farming land; some have raised concerns about the construction of large solar farms on undeveloped land. There is a solution that's sitting right in front of us, or more accurately, above us.

Thursday 26 March, 2009

Solar Power Scams
When you think of solar power; free clean and green energy springs to mind. But the environmentally warm and fuzzy nature of solar power can sometimes override due diligence on behalf of consumers and leave them severely out of pocket.

Recycled Silicon For Solar Cells
A new process for recycling silicon has enabled the reclaimed substance to be used in solar cell applications suitable for commercial grade solar panels.

Wednesday 25 March, 2009

Ireland Launches Feed In Tariff
The concept of feed in tariffs to stimulate uptake of renewable energy is certainly catching on with increasing numbers of countries launching schemes.

Ohio Aims For 1,000 Solar Schools
There are approximately 5,000 to 6,000 school buildings in the US State of Ohio and under legislation to be introduced next week, 25% of schools will be required to install grid connect solar power systems.

Tuesday 24 March, 2009

Solar Panel Snobbery Overruled
Housing and neighbourhood associations can act as a great protection for a community, but can go a little over the top sometimes. An example is a recent case in Palos Verdes, California where a homes association denied local home owners permission to install blueish coloured solar panels.

A Greener Solar Panel
While solar power provides one of the most earth friendly ways of generating electricity from renewable energy sources, a solar panel contains some components with their origins in petrochemicals. By refining these components, a "greener" solar panel can be made.

Monday 23 March, 2009

Victoria's Solar Feed In Tariff Farce
Many Victorians who are enthusiastic to invest in solar power systems but holding off until a feed in tariff program is implemented in the state might be very disappointed by proposed legislation introduced by Victoria's State Government.

Australian Renewable Energy Economy Cheaper Than Stimulus Spend
According to a report commissions by WWF Australia, the nation could be transformed to run on clean energy such as wind and solar power at just over half the cost the Federal Government has spent on the stimulus package in the past six months

NSW Electricity Bills Set To Skyrocket
Thousands of families in New South Wales are about to receive a nasty electric shock in the form of increased power costs.

Friday 20 March, 2009

Robert Redford And Solar Power
Most of us know Robert Redford as an actor, but not many would be aware that he was and is a huge supporter of solar power - dating back over 30 years.

Thursday 19 March, 2009

UK Government Ends Solar Power Funding
In yet another case of governments underestimating the willingness of citizens to install solar power systems, the UK government has ended a controversial program well ahead of time.

Britain's World Solar Challenge Entry - Bethany
Imagine a vehicle that could travel at a hundred kilometres an hour on around the same energy as a hair dryer uses. That's what the Cambridge University Eco Racing (CUER) team have achieved with their new solar-powered racing car design, currently codenamed 'Bethany'.

Wednesday 18 March, 2009

World Solar Panel Market Grew 110% In 2008
According to a report just released, world solar panel installations attained a record high of 5.95 gigawatts during 2008; growth of 110% over 2007.

PV And Solar Thermal Powered Hybrid Air Conditioner Unveiled
Solar powered air conditioning that doesn't require copious volumes of water or huge arrays of solar panels has been somewhat of a holy grail for the solar industry. Recently we reported on such a solar powered air conditioning unit under development in Australia and now there's a new player in the market - Chromasun.

Tuesday 17 March, 2009

Queensland Push For National Solar Gross Feed In Tariff
With a Queensland election just days away and the issue of renewable energy a hot topic, Premier Anna Bligh has promised Labor will advocate a national solar gross feed in tariff at the next Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting.

Victoria's Electricity Related Greenhouse Gas Emissions Skyrocket
Victoria recently saw a rise in overall emissions by around 483,000 tonnes when compared with the previous summer, mostly due to a 5.6 per cent increase in emissions from Victoria�s coal-fired power stations, the equivalent of 851,000 tonnes.

Monday 16 March, 2009

Geoengineering and solar power
One of the more drastic approaches to addressing climate change has been the concept of geoengineering, in particular ejecting particles into the upper atmosphere to cool the planet.�However, according to the USA's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), such a move would see reduction in electricity generation by solar farms that concentrate the suns energy using mirrors and lenses.

Solar Hot Water Most Efficient
While an increasing amount of electricity entering the grid is being generated from renewable sources, much of it is wasted on tasks such as heating water that would be best performed by solar hot water systems installed directly on homes. In India, some cities have made it mandatory for new buildings to install solar water heating systems before they can be occupied.

Friday 13 March, 2009

Solar Powered Desalination For South Australia
A major challenge for desalination plants is electricity consumption - and in creating that electricity, huge amounts of water are required at the power generation source. This is an area where solar power can again come to the rescue.

Thursday 12 March, 2009

Wind Energy And Solar Power - 40% By 2050?
Research from the Helsinki University of Technology's Advanced Energy Systems asserts renewable energy technologies like wind and solar power could supply 40 percent of the world's electricity by 2050 if given similar support as to what the coal fired and nuclear industry receives.

Quick Charging Battery Technology Breakthrough
Deep cycle batteries can store large amounts of power - but they are rather bulky.Lithium-ion batteries, such as those found in notebook computers, are much lighter and able to store significant levels of energy too - but they can take a long time to recharge. A new battery technology developed by MIT engineers dubbed "beltway battery" gets around this problem and may help propel Lithium-ion technology into the wind and solar related energy storage market much sooner than expected.

Wednesday 11 March, 2009

Victoria's $1 billion Solar Energy Initiatives
The Victorian Government yesterday provided further details on a series of projects designed to boost the uptake of solar power in the state and to help Victoria meet its renewable energy targets.

Liquid Deep Cycle Battery On The Horizon?
A team at MIT is currently working on a new approach to deep cycle batteries using chemical reactions of liquid materials that could be applied to small and large scale energy storage applications.

Tuesday 10 March, 2009

Australia Unveils Draft Emissions Trading Scheme Legislation
There was a flurry of media activity yesterday and today ahead of the release of the Australian Government's Emissions Trading Scheme draft legislation, which was unveiled a short time ago.

Earth Hour 2009
The greenest megawatt of electricity is the one you don't have to generate - and if last year's Earth Hour is any indication, quite a few megawatts will be saved during the upcoming event.��

Monday 09 March, 2009

Solar Energy: Turning Carbon Dioxide To Methane
According to researchers at Penn State University, carbon dioxide emissions intensive industries could convert CO2 to a wide variety of hydrocarbons, such as methane. While methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, it's a useful one that can be used for fuel.

Betting Big On Solar Power In Atlantic City
The dedication last Friday of Atlantic City Convention Center's new solar roof heralded the end of the largest single roof-mounted grid connect solar construction project in the United States.�

Friday 06 March, 2009

Clean Coal Carnival Leaving Town?
It's been a rough few months for the clean coal lobby. Much of the hoopla and hype targeted towards the general public originating from the industry has died down after repeated attacks over the viability or even possibility of such a fuel.

Thursday 05 March, 2009

Australia's Solar Credits Program Controversy Deepens
With the Australian government's $8,000 solar rebate to end in June and then to be immediately followed by the new Solar Credits program, the latter is coming under increasing scrutiny.�

Wednesday 04 March, 2009

Solar Panel Posers Greenwashing?
Having solar panels installed makes a statement - it says the owner is concerned about the environment and doing their bit to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Or does it? Is it sometimes primarily a fashion statement or publicity stunt? Does it really matter?

Eleanor: MIT's Solar Powered Car
Australians will be able to grab a glimpse of MIT's newest solar powered car called Eleanor when the team participates in October's World Solar Challenge race across Australia. The Solar Electric Vehicle team will be driving the car across the USA soon in preparation for the big event.

Tuesday 03 March, 2009

Suzuki: Tree Planting Good, Renewable Energy Better
While no-one doubts the critical role that trees play in our ecosystem in relation to the cleaning up of carbon dioxide emissions, the David Suzuki Foundation has weighed in on the tree offsetting debate to question the effectiveness of such programs compared to uptake of renewables such as wind power and solar energy.

Florida Solar Feed In Tariff Reaches Target Before Launch
Even before Gainesville Regional Utilities in Florida officially launches its solar feed in tariff program, the initiative has already seen the first-year target for the solar program reached.

Monday 02 March, 2009

ACT Feed In Tariff Launched - Canberra Solar Power To Boom
The ACT's new gross feed in tariff system came into effect yesterday and is set to create a thriving solar power industry for Canberra.

Survey: Australians' Solar Power Motivations
The results of a survey just published by Australia's Alternative Technology Association show that most Australians purchasing solar power systems primary motivation goes beyond electricity cost savings.

Solar Energy To Help Power Coffee Company
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, based in the USA state of Vermont, will build the state's largest grid connected solar array on the rooftop of its distribution center in Waterbury. The construction of the 100 kW solar array is expected to begin soon and completed late this year.