Solar Power is having a dramatic impact on the foundation of the Toledo economy with a confluence of industry, academia and government. While like so many other manufacturing hubs if the US, jobs have been lost en mass, the solar power industry has helped mitigate these losses as it’s proving to be fertile, green ground for economic development.

From the wonderful show on Discovery Channel – How It’s Made – comes this video segment which explores how solar panels are made.

The Solar Roadway is a series of structurally engineered solar panels that idea that will replace petroleum-based asphalt roads with Solar Road Panels that collect and store solar energy to be used by our homes and businesses. The renewable energy replaces the need for the current fossil fuels used for the generation of electricity, cutting greenhouse gases literally in half.

Solar Roadways are constructed using three layer system. The surface layer is tough enough to handle vehicles and weather systems, while the he upper layer is translucent and allows the sunlight pass by. The middle layer will consist of large array of solar collecting cells. This middle electronic layer will be fitted with microprocessors that will control lighting, communications, monitoring etc. The third base layer will distribute power collected by the electronics layer to the units connected to the Solar Roadways.

Southern California Edison is working with a company named BrightSource to erect “power towers,” which consist of moving mirrors to concentrate light onto a tower to make steam to produce 100-megawatts of power in Ivanpah, California. By 2013 they are projecting to light up 65,000 homes by supplying 286,000 megawatt-hours of electricity per year.

God said, “Let there be light!” and then he installed some solar panels and totally dug it. OK, so Genesis might not have gone quite like that, but it’s close right?

Anyway, we thought you might enjoy this video on the installment of a massive array of solar panels that were actually given to the Vatican. Because even the Pope can stand to be a little greener.

This test illustrates how dunking solar panels underwater gives off a 9 percent stronger PV photovoltaic sun power due to the efficiency drop from heat build-up in PV panels. Water can be heated while the panel produces a more efficient energy yield.

Good idea, but what happens in the winter for those of us who live in more frigid climates? How do you dunk the panel into a block of ice?