Now as much as we love the idea of solar lights by IKEA, with an extremely thrifty price-point (the above SUNNAN desk lamps retail for just $19.99), we are a little bummed that they came up with a totally fug design like these solar desk lamps that are often placed beside living room phones. However, never fear, IKEA for those of you who are not into the college dorm look these lamps will give your home, IKEA offers more options to choose from here.

All of the nine LED lighting options feature rechargeable batteries that can be charged up from nine to twelve hours of sunlight. This is pretty exciting news for the world – solar lights being mass-marketed cheaply in a big-box superstore can only mean good things for the solar industry.

Today, the Austin City Council unanimously approved a $250 million solar plant that would be among the largest in the world.  City officials say it would help them get closer to the city’s goal of using more renewable energy.

The council approved a partnership with Gemini Solar Development Co. to build and operate the facility and sell all its power to Austin at $10 million a year. Under the plan, Austin Energy will purchase all of the electricity produced over a 25-year term by a 30 megawatt solar project to be built on city-owned property located about 20 miles from downtown Austin.

Critics complained that the project is too expensive for the amount of power it produces. They also questioned why the city would partner with a company that will get its solar panels manufactured in China. In repsponse, Austin Energy says there isn’t a Texas company capable of filling the order.

The cost of solar power is dropping, numbers from Solarbuzz are showing. U.S. panel prices have fallen 4 cents since December to $4.81 per watt of peak capacity, while European panel prices are down 6 euro cents to €4.62 per watt.  Industry insiders are saying that prices are back to where they were five years ago. And some are predicting prices could plummet as low as $2.40 per watt.

According to Solarbuzz, the lowest prices have reached $3.57 per watt for a thin-film panel, $3.89 per watt for a monocrystalline panel and $3.99 per watt for a multicrystalline panel.

Lux Research predicted nearly a year ago that the solar market would become saturated and that solar supply would exceed demand in 2009.

“While oversupply in the solar market has been looming for some time, the correction has been more aggressive due to the economic crisis,” Lux senior analyst Ted Sullivan said in a release.

If you’re thinking about installing solar panels, you might be pleased to hear that researchers in Australia are working on a project to develop a spray-on coating for solar panels, which will both bring down the cost and improve the efficiency of solar panels.

A new company, Spark Solar, is working in conjunction with Australian National University researchers on the spray-on method. The project is projected to be finished and available to consumers in 2011.

Dr Keith McIntosh from ANU, the chief investigator in the first project, stated, “It will provide an opportunity for significant manufacturing cost reductions by replacing the conventional, expensive manufacturing techniques that are currently employed industry-wide with the spray-on films.”

With 2008 being a bust financially, many industries are putting their faith in the new economic stimulus plan, which will hopefully resuscitate the economy.

Now, things are looking bright for the solar and wind power industries, as news that the U.S. government is set to spend nearly $100 billion to push America’s energy industry and make solar power part of its energy stimulus. The stimulus package apparently contains tax incentives for solar installation as well as incentives for job creation in solar energy companies.

“We are excited to see the push to drive investment in solar energy at the top of American agenda,” Eddie Austin, Chairman and CEO of Sunrise Solar Corp, said. “Experts expect this to stimulate rapid growth in solar power as consumers and businesses see these grants and tax credits as a great opportunity to go green on a budget.”

Solar companies are scrambling to produce and build more technology in order to accommodate a demand that will most likely become massive.

Rep. Mike Thompson, of Montana, stated, “The solar energy tax provisions I authored will make it easier for businesses and homeowners to have solar panels installed. This has the twin benefits of creating green jobs while at the same time reducing our dependence on foreign oil.”

With the solar power industry looking down the barrel of a tough 2009 it definitely has high hopes for Barack Obama’s economic stimulus package. The question is, what exactly can the solar power industry expect to receive?

Considering President Obama’s long-term energy plans involve seeing solar energy production doubled, you can expect to see a serious solar power booster shot.

Currently, both the Senate and the house are each entertaining a package for the solar power industry. It is possible that both will be approved.

The house bill would prove invaluable to the solar industry. It would see those who purchase solar panels get refunds in the form of grants as opposed to tax credits for their purchase. The tax credits were a great incentive back when companies were healthy and flush with cash and making so much that write offs were actually valuable. Now investments need to pay and a simple tax credit is no longer much of an incentive.

The Senate bill targets manufacturing as opposed to purchasing. It would exist in the form of a tax credit for solar power technology manufacturers and keep U.S. companies competitive.

Here’s to hoping that both incentives see the light of day. This could be a major turning point for the solar industry in the U.S. and with the right stimulus we could see solar power and other forms of renewable energy take their rightful place in the forefront of energy production.

U.S. based Suntrof Systems LLC has just announced their new Alubond Solar Collectors and it sounds like the collectors could have a major impact on the solar power industry by reducing the cost of production by 50 percent.

Among the drawbacks of exploiting solar power are the high costs and the long time before the investment is recouped through energy savings. If the Alubond solar panels really do cut the cost of installing solar panels by half then this could be the boost the solar power industry needed.

According to Suntrof Systems LLC the Alubond solar panels don’t require heavy mirrors. They are exceptionally light and also offer a 20-year warranty on exterior performance.

Gloomy Oregon is looking to become the hottest state when it comes to solar power. Get it? Hottest? Ahh, tough crowd, tough crowd.

Several exciting projects such as Solar World, which has the largest solar cell manufacturing facility in North America and Solaicx, a silicon manufacturer for solar energy applications, as well as Sanyo Solar, have been given the green light – which will ultimately make Oregon the leading state in terms of solar production.

Oregon governor Ted Kulongoski’s has pushed to develop the Renewable Portfolio Standard which mandates the state supply 25 percent of its electricity needs by 2025. The Standard also plans to have 100% of the state buildings lit and run on clean and green energy resources by 2025.

Govenor Kulongoski made trips to Japan and China, looking to imports to provide sources for eco-friendly consumerism. Nissan had shown interest in test marketing its all-electric vehicle in Oregon in 2010 as the state plans to strongly promote the electric and hybrid car industry. Plans are in place to build charging stations throughout Oregon.

Texas is the latest state to look to solar power, as legislators have announced they want Texas to be in the forefront for alternative energy sources. Plans for new legislation include incentives and rebates that would provide affordable solar panels. The hope is these incentives would spur a boom similar to the one that started with wind power a decade ago.

“We estimated that Texas could put solar panels on the equivalent of 500,000 rooftops in Texas over the next 10 years,” said Luke Metzger of Environment Texas. “That would create about 22,000 jobs and reduce as much pollution as taking 4.3 billion cars off the road for a year.”

Austin Energy, the state capital’s electric utility, recently announced that it wants to build one of the largest solar projects of its kind in the world. The goal is to power as many as 5,000 homes and allow Austin Energy to generate 30 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2020.

This spring, a team in California will attempt to ignite a tiny man-made star inside a laboratory and trigger a thermonuclear reaction. In an experiment that will cost millions, these scientists will try to activate a tiny man made star that will imitate sun by setting off a thermonuclear reaction.

“We are creating the conditions that exist inside the sun,” Ed Moses, director of the the National Ignition Facility (NIF) stated. “It is like tapping into the real solar energy as fusion is the source of all energy in the world. It is really exciting physics, but beyond that there are huge social, economic and global problems that it can help to solve.”

If this experiment is successful, recreating the sun’s power could potentially provide an answer to the world’s impending energy shortage.