Author: Energy Matters

Governments are increasingly implementing legislation to ensure people building new homes are given the option of adding solar power.

Suntech has teamed up with Australia’s Swinburne University of Technology in a project to create the next generation of solar cells.

Within 5 years, the Port of Los Angeles will have 10 megawatts capacity of solar panel arrays covering over 100,000 square meters.

Australia’s Environment Minister Peter Garrett stated today that more than 6,000 Australians have already applied for the new $1,600 Federal Government solar hot water rebate under the $3.9 billion Energy Efficient Homes Package.

Solar Aid’s vision is to make solar energy as widely available as possible to the poorest people in developing countries.

South Africa is the latest country to offer feed in tariff incentives to stimulate uptake of renewable energy.

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 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.

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.

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.