solar power
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Land use is not a barrier for distributed renewable energy
A column in The New York Times last Tuesday suggested that land use is the greatest environmental problem facing new renewable energy.
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Google to spend $280 million to give you solar panels — free
The challenge with putting solar on your roof is that even if it saves you money over the long run, you're essentially pre-paying your utility bill for the next ten to 20 years -- and who has that kind of scratch?
That's why SolarCity exists: to pay for and install those solar panels, and then lease them to you or sell you the power they produce, for less than your current utility bill. Google just dropped $280 million on the company because they think this is such a fantastic and, in their words, "safe" investment.
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Critical List: Floods herald largest Gulf dead zone on record; the Senate hearts ethanol
Louisiana fishermen can't catch a break. Flooding on the Mississippi River could create the largest dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico on record.
Louisiana, in general, can't catch a break. A plant that blends chemicals used in oilfields exploded on Tuesday.
The Senate decided against ending subsidies for corn-based ethanol in a vote that split, not just along party lines, but also between Big Ag states and everyone else.
Google's newest clean energy investment hands $280 million to a solar company that leases panels to customers. -
Oregon town gets a lot of solar for a little money
The upfront cost has always been the biggest barrier to solar photovoltaic adoption, and one Oregon town has found an innovative way to help its citizens buy down that cost.
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Solar panels to match your couch
Excited about your inevitable solar panels, but concerned they'll clash with your decor? Qsolar has you covered, you fashion victim. Their colored solar panels aren't just for the roof — they can be integrated into the design of a building as cool-looking and functional walls or (semi-transparent) windows.
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Why you’ll soon have solar panels, in three easy graphs
The cost of silicon solar panels has been falling precipitously, with no end in sight. Naturally, falling costs mean solar installation has been exploding worldwide. By the time new coal-fired power plants come on-line in the U.S., solar will already be cheaper. If you want to understand what kind of revolution this will bring about […]
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Turning toward the sun for energy
One key component of the Plan B climate stabilization strategy is solar energy. Solar is even more ubiquitous than wind energy and can be harnessed with both solar photovoltaics (PV) and solar thermal collectors. Solar PV — both silicon-based and thin film — converts sunlight directly into electricity. The growth in solar cell production climbed […]
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Solar gets cheap fast
Cross-posted from Climate Progress. There’s a joke in the solar industry about when “grid parity” — the time when solar becomes as cheap as fossil sources — will happen. Ron Kenedi, the former VP in Sharp Solar’s U.S. business liked to throw out random dates, telling me once “November 21, 2012” in jest. The truth […]
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Chris Christie systematically destroys all environmental progress in New Jersey
For a while there, New Jersey was doing pretty well on the environmental front, for a state better known for its landfills and gazillion-lane highways than its farms and increasingly rare open spaces. But Chris Christie is working his butt off to make sure that changes. It's not just that he thinks it's normal to […]