Juno Breaks Solar Powered Space Vehicle Record
In the early hours of yesterday morning Australian time, NASA’s Juno probe broke the record for humanity’s most distant solar powered spacecraft. Juno was launched aboard an Atlas V-551 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Aug. 5, 2011 and is now approximately 793 million kilometers from the sun. Attached to the craft are three 9-meter […]
Australian Solar Panel Dumping Investigation (Re)Awakens
It’s on – again. Australia’s Commissioner of the Anti-Dumping Commission has announced a previously terminated investigation into the alleged dumping of solar panels from China in Australia will resume. Dumping is said to have occurred when goods are exported to Australia at a price below the ‘normal value’ of those items; i.e. the value usually […]
Obama : Accelerate Transition From “Dirty Energy”
U.S. President Barack Obama highlighted his administration’s progress on wind and solar power in his final State of the Union address – and wants to see more of the same. In 2009, President Obama launched an economic stimulus package, with billions earmarked for renewable energy and energy efficiency initiatives. Yesterday, he spoke of the results […]
USA National Solar Jobs Census 2015 Released
The U.S. solar workforce grew to a total of nearly 209,000 last year; adding more than 35,000 workers – the third consecutive year in which growth exceeded 20%. The Solar Foundation’s National Solar Jobs Census 2015 states the workforce has increased by 123% since 2010. “The solar industry has once again proven to be a […]
USA’s Solar Ready Vets Program Expands
The USA’s Solar Ready Vets is growing, with Hill Air Force Base in Utah and Fort Drum in New York commencing participation this year. The Solar Ready Vets program trains and connects US military veterans to the solar energy industry; preparing them for careers as solar power system installers, sales reps, system inspectors and other […]
2016 A Big Year For Utility Scale Solar In India
Utility scale solar capacity addition in India during the first quarter of this year has been forecast to be equivalent to the entire capacity added in 2015. Research from Bridge To India indicates utility scale solar projects totaling up to 4.8 GW of capacity will be brought online during 2016, a jump of 140% over […]
Strong Renewable Energy Support In Key LNP Electorates
The passion for renewables in Australia isn’t waning, but support for coal appears to be – particularly when it comes to new mines. This is a continuing trend among voters of all political leanings. 72-77% of voters recently polled in conservative electorates support Australia becoming a 100% renewable energy powered nation by 2030. A ReachTEL-conducted […]
Meteorite Retrieval Assisted By Solar Power
Solar power played an important role in the discovery of a meteorite in South Australia’s outback that made headlines around the world. At around 9:15 pm on November 27th, 2015, a lump of rock estimated to be 80kg entered Earth’s atmosphere, travelling at about 50,000km/hr. The visitor was around 4.5 billion years old, older than […]
£1 Million UK Battery Storage Project Announced
A £1 million project will see the construction of one of the first industrial-scale battery storage facilities in the UK. A joint venture of National Solar Centre, British Solar Renewables (BSR) and Western Power Distribution (WPD), the project seeks to demonstrate the technical and commercial feasibility of connecting an energy storage facility at a solar […]
Solar Mills Hammer Down The Price Of Staple Food
It’s stories like this that really highlight solar power’s potential for improving lives in developing nations. Back in September last year, we reported on an initiative in Zambia where solar powered hammer mills were to be used to create jobs in milling and reduce the cost of mealie-meal, a coarse flour made from maize that […]