Energy Matters Video News – Episode 26 – March 16, 2011

In this episode, Virginia covers a new report showing renewable energy’s minor role in electricity prices, REC solar panels a top performer in independent testing, Suntech stocks power on and Japan’s nuclear emergency casting a cloud over Australia’s nuclear aspirations.

USA Solar Industry Value Grew 67% In 2010

Recent figures from the USA’s leading solar trade group, the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), show that in 2010, solar energy was an economic powerhouse in a somewhat depressed American marketplace.

UK Solar Soldier Program To Lighten The Load

A team of British scientists has started work on a solar power pack that would lighten the load individual soldiers must carry by 50 percent, allowing a higher degree of mobility.

Solar Could Power 5000 Jobs In Iowa

In the US state of Iowa, a new report says that developing solar energy as a power source has the potential to provide up to 5000 jobs in the next five years and provide over $332 million to the Iowan economy.

Suntech Solar Stocks Power On

Suntech Power Holdings, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of solar panels, has sent global share markets into a frenzy after they announced total net revenues of almost a billion dollars in the fourth quarter of 2010, a 62 percent increase on 2009’s figures.