A group of Japanese firms are looking to construct a small smart-grid system in an undisclosed New Mexico town that will incorporate solar energy and battery-storage systems. It hopes to provide this smart grid to 1000 residents by the end of 2010.
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A leaked government plan for solar investments puts India's goal for installed solar capacity at 200GW by 2050, compared to India's current 150GW of total electricity capacity, solar or otherwise.
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Lockheed-Martin is planning on building an 8.5GW concentrating solar power plant in Arizona by 2014. The plant will rely on parabolic troughs collecting solar heat energy, which is used to create steam and turn generators. The plant will also include about 6 hours of thermal storage in the form of molten salts that can store heat energy at off peak times to increase peak production, even when the sun isn't brightly shining.
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The US has pledged almost a half a billion dollars to developing and deploying geothermal and solar energy technologies.
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China is putting additional funding into its solar energy sector to help if catch up to wind, nuclear, and hydroelectric systems. The goal is to have solar supplying 6% of the nation's power by 2020.
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Sanyo made some great progress in silicon solar cell technology with the development of their latest cell. It broke its own record for practical (100 cm2 or more) sized crystalline silicon solar cells by reaching the 23% mark. It also lowered the production cost and raw silicon usage of the system.
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Nestlé Purina and REC Solar Inc. are working together to install the largest privately owned solar-panel power system in Colorado. It can produce 100 kilowatts of power, about 1 percent of the plant’s electricity needs and the cost will be recouped within the first year.
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An economist at the Research Connections 2009 conference in Prague makes the case for a pan-European strategy of small-scale energy generation and smart energy grids to help address climate and economic problems.
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