Professor of photonics at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland, Michael Graetzel, won the Millennium Technology Prize of $1.07 million for his invention – dye-sensitized solar cells, which he calls “Graetzel cells.” “The constraint of solar energy has traditionally been its price. Graetzel cells provide a more affordable way of harnessing solar energy,” [...]

Rio de Janeiro was selected for the 2016 Olympics, and one of the centerpieces of its Olympic-specific architecture could be, if it wins the design competition, the Solar City Tower. Designed by Swiss architecture firm RAFAA, this incredible structure gathers solar energy to pump seawater to its top, and the resulting falling water spins turbines [...]

U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced that the Department will invest more than $200 million over five years to expand and accelerate the development, commercialization, and use of solar and water power technologies throughout the United States. This funding underscores the Administration’s commitment to foster a robust clean-energy sector in the United States [...]

SunEdison have announced the project to build a photovoltaic solar power plant in Northeastern Italy, near the town of Rovigo. The proposed solar power plant will have a capacity of 72 MW, making it the largest solar power plant in Europe. SunEdison finances, installs and operates distributed power plants using photovoltaic technologies. Expected to be completed at [...]

IBM is merging with Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, to create a desalination system powered by the sun that would pump 7.9 million gallons of water daily for over 100,000 people.  The new solar plant will be constructed in Al Khafji, Saudi Arabia and will rely on concentrating photovoltaic arrays to generate enough energy to power its [...]

Reliance Industries, an energy company, released a statement that said it has commissioned the country’s first one-megawatt solar plant to power a stadium to be used in the upcoming CommonWealth Games. The company’s solar energy department, RIL Solar Group has “successfully implemented and commissioned 1-MW solar plant on the roof of the Thyagaraj Stadium here,” [...]

Kaiser Permanente, which is the largest non-profit health maintenance organization (HMO) in the United States has taken it upon themselves to do something good for the environment. The health care giant has announced plans to install 15 MW of solar PV arrays on their buildings throughout California, saying “what’s good for the environment is good [...]

In news that is both good and unsettling, Chevron has decided to add a slightly green tinge to their day-to-day dirty brown operations. How? By installing 7,700 solar panels generating about 740 kilowatts of electricity – to help power their oil refineries. “By bringing together seven emerging solar technologies, Project Brightfield represents one of the [...]

Solar Energy Trade Shows recently announced that the Solar Power International (SPI) 2011 conference and trade show will take place in Dallas, Texas, at the Dallas Convention Center on October 17-21. SPI is the largest B2B conference and trade show in North America for the solar energy industry and was recently recognized by Tradeshow Week [...]

According to Section 136 of the U.S. Code, energy conservation subsidies provided by public utilities,* either directly or indirectly, are nontaxable: “Gross income shall not include the value of any subsidy provided (directly or indirectly) by a public utility to a customer for the purchase or installation of any energy conservation measure.” (This exclusion does [...]