Solar power for less than $2 a day

Imagine a solar panel as affordable as a fancy new bicycle. A panel designed so simply that you can install one (or more) yourself, just outside your windows, in the course of an afternoon.

That’s the concept behind Oakland, Calif.-based Veranda Solar, a start-up founded last year by Capra J’neva and Emilie Fetscher, recent graduates of the product design program at Stanford University. J’neva and Fetscher dreamed up attractive, flower-shaped solar panels as part of their master’s project at the design school. “We created a starter solar system that expands as your budget does,” J’neva says.

Stimulus Bill and Solar Power- Let the Sun Shine: Stimulating Energy and Employment

* To maximize job creation, spending on renewable energy envisioned in the economic stimulus bill should be targeted at distributed generation projects, which use local labor for installation and increase the efficiency and reliability of power supply.

* Of the renewable energy sources, solar photovoltaic (PV) power is best suited to realize the potential of distributed and renewable energy generation. It matches peak energy demand most closely and offers the best opportunity to substitute expensive, centrally-generated electricity.

* Direct federal procurement and renewable energy loan guarantees, grants, and tax credits should favor smaller, distributed PV installations connected to the local distribution grid or generating electricity directly at the point of consumption.

* A significant share of the stimulus bill’s funding for modernizing the electricity grid should go to installing the electrical gear and smart power electronics and communication devices necessary for integration of distributed PV systems into the grid and better management of onsite generation, storage and use of energy.

How Much of the World’s Energy Could Come from Solar and Wind Power

“The promotion of renewable energy involves political and economic instruments and business interests as well as research into sustainable energy technologies. Through this workshop we want to bring together key players in society to pave the way in a joint effort for more renewable energy. Not just in Denmark and Europe, but globally. We want to help developing countries find new ways for sustainable development, “says Director Henrik Bindslev, Risø DTU.

Group says solar energy’s future bright in Texas

“Our economy is struggling and the unstable energy prices are only making things worse,” Seeley said. “But Texas has the technological prowess and vast resources of renewable energy from the sun, wind and crops that can revitalize our economy, power the nation, create thousands of high-paying manufacturing jobs, and renew Texas’ role as the energy capital of the world.”

Sharp to Team With Italy’s Enel on Solar Power

Solar panels are one of the industries Sharp has targeted over the last few years and the company has become a leading player but it faces fierce competition from companies including Germany’s Q-Cells and China’s SunTech.