solar power
Two US startups break solar efficiency records, aim to light up your life
www.engadget.com
Two US startups are breaking solar efficiency records in their quest to bring clean, cost-effective, eco-friendly energy to a power grid near you. Alta Devices, based in Santa Clara, CA, has achieved a 23.5 percent efficiency rating with its standard solar panel, while Semprius, a Durham, NC company, has...
Solar startups set new power records
news.cnet.com
Startups Alta Devices and Semprius boast new solar efficiency records using very different techniques in an effort to knock down the price of solar power....
Solar power arrives in the Puno region of Peru – in pictures
www.guardian.co.uk
The isolated village of Pasiri and the Uros people of Lake Titicaca, in southern Peru, are two of the communities to have benefited from an EU-funded project to install solar panels in poor countriesMattia Cabitza...
China builds $3.7 billion, 1,373 mile power cable, how was your afternoon?
www.engadget.com
The State Grid corporation of China is constructing a power line of capable of transmitting a staggering 37 billion kWh per year. The record-breaking cable stretches from the power rich north eastern Hami Prefecture to the energy-starved city of Zhengzhou in the west. Costing a twitch-inducing $3.7 billion, when...
Infosys cuts energy use in US
www.guardian.co.uk
Indian IT giant claims it's efficiency efforts are better than Google and Apple's, but Greenpeace says it should look beyond itselfInfosys, the Indian outsourcing giant, has cut its per employee electricity use by about a third and introduced energy efficiency measures that have saved the company $32m (£29m) since 2009.Through...
Photosynthesis molecules from yard waste can provide the basis of low-cost solar power
www.theverge.com
Scientists are increasingly focused on finding renewable sources of power, and a researcher at MIT is working on putting together one such source that's primarily fueled by the sun and old yard waste. Andreas Mershin, a physicist and research affiliate at the MIT Center for Bits and Atoms, has...
Lessons learned from an entrepreneur electrifying rural India
gigaom.com
The co-founders of two-year-old startup Mera Gao Power are about a month away from generating enough revenues from their solar-power microgrid service in villages in rural India to cover all of their company’s costs. Well, all of their costs except their own salaries, which is about another year away, co-founder...
Hand-cranked vending machine offers products sans power, refreshments during emergencies (video)
www.engadget.com
Ever needed to grab a bottle of water only to find the vending machine you've spotted is without power? The folks in Japan have, especially in the period immediately following natural disasters. The solution? Easy. A hand-cranked vending machine that still affords you the option of your desired food...
This Futuristic Boat Just Circumnavigated the Globe on Solar Power
www.theatlantic.com
A pioneering ship proves a point about the possibilities of renewable energy....
Stone Spray research project wants to print bridges with sand, solar power
www.engadget.com
Envious of your pet hermit crabs' 3D-printed domicile? Maybe you should cast your green eyes upon the Stone Spray project, an Eco-friendly robot printer that's exploring the viability of soil as a building material. Although making actual buildings is a bit out of the robot's reach, its team has...
Thinly sliced cells slash solar power costs
news.cnet.com
Startup Twin Creek's equipment creates super-thin silicon solar cells to dramatically cut the cost of solar panel production. [Read more]...
Logitech iPad case and keyboard charges itself with solar power
www.theverge.com
An early posting at Best Buy has given us a look at a new solar-powered keyboard by Logitech. The 15.9-ounce case-and-stand combination integrates what looks like a stiff keyboard with a case and solar panels on the back; it connects to the new iPad with Bluetooth, and the keyboard...
NASA Looks Into Satellites to Beam Solar Power Directly to Earth
www.pcworld.com
Coud satellites one day beam solar energy back to Earth? It could be possible, thanks to a new research project....
100,000 'firefly' LED bulbs float through Tokyo
news.cnet.com
Charged with solar power, this ethereal flotilla of glowing LEDs streamed down the Sumida River to celebrate the beauty of fireflies. [Read more]...
Logitech goes solar powered with new iPad folio
www.electronista.com
Logitech applied its expertise in developing solar power to computer peripherals to the iPad. Its new Solar Keyboard Folio both gives a new iPad or iPad 2 full protection as well as powering its built-in keyboard by light. The new peripheral is capable of using either indoor or outdoor light...
DOE study says that 80 percent of US power could come from renewable energy by 2050
www.theverge.com
A study from the Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has found that today's renewable energy technologies could supply up to 80 percent of US electricity by the year 2050. The NREL's study explored various scenarios, concluding that onshore wind power will have the most significant impact...
Amazon’s cloud rockstar not a fan of solar-powered data centers
gigaom.com
James Hamilton of Amazon Amazon’s web infrastructure rockstar James Hamilton writes on his blog that he’s not convinced that solar power is a good fit for powering data centers. He points to the two most high profile examples of Internet companies embracing solar for data centers — Facebook’s tiny solar...
DOE-backed Abound Solar to shut down
gigaom.com
It’s time to write the obituary for another solar startup: Abound Solar, a thin film startup which secured a $400 million loan guarantee from U.S. Department of Energy to expand production, is shutting down and filing for bankruptcy, the DOE said Thursday. The Colorado company already appeared to be in serious...
Huge Arizona solar panel farm now 2/3 completed
gigaom.com
The Agua Caliente solar project in Yuma County, Arizona — which is one of the world’s largest solar panel farms — is now two thirds completed, according to the owners and developer of the project, NRG Energy, MidAmerican Solar and First Solar. The solar farm, which is supposed to be completed...
SunEdison looking to light up rural India with solar
gigaom.com
India has become a hot bed of solar activity, thanks to the country’s booming economy, the problems with the domestic coal industry, and the country’s strong solar incentives. And while many of the solar projects are being connected to the grid to generate power for cities, some companies are looking...
MIT spinout Liquid Metal Battery lands $15M from Bill Gates and others
www.geekwire.com
Liquid Metal Battery Corporation, an MIT spin out that’s developing new technologies to for electricity storage, has raised $15 million in funding from Khosla Ventures, Total and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. The technology behind the company was developed by Dr. Donald Sadoway, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who was...
Welcome to the DC data center
gigaom.com
For Swiss power company ABB, DC — or direct current — is the future of the data center. This week the company, working with Swiss IT firm Green, officially opened up Green’s new DC-powered expansion at its Zurich data center, which the companies say is the most powerful use of...
BrightSource Cancels IPO
online.wsj.com
Citing poor market conditions, California solar-power developer BrightSource Energy said it was withdrawing its initial public offering, originally scheduled for later this week....
Apple reveals big solar, fuel cell plans for data center
gigaom.com
A few months ago it was revealed that Apple planned to build a solar array for its massive data center in North Carolina. Now according to Apple’s latest environmental report (hat tip CNET), the company has disclosed that its solar project will actually be pretty sizable at 20 MW, and...
Urban tech: From Masdar to Main Street?
www.computerworld.com
Self-driving electric taxis, smart appliances and municipal solar power are all amenities enjoyed by the residents of the futuristic Masdar City in the Middle East. Here's how they'll make their way to the U.S....
Inhabitat's Week in Green: rise of solar power, cardboard forts and a Death Star ping pong ball
www.engadget.com
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. It was a big week for superlatives in clean tech and green architecture -- particularly in Europe. First, construction on The Shard, architect Renzo...
SunPower scores deal for Apple’s huge solar farm
gigaom.com
Apple plans to buy solar panels from SunPower for the huge solar farm that it’s planning to build at its data center in Maiden, North Carolina, according to San Jose Mercury reporter Dana Hull, who cites a regulatory filing with North Carolina’s utility commission. Last month Apple revealed that it...
Moss-Covered Table Powers Clock, Might One Day Power Your Laptop
www.pcworld.com
The Moss Table shows the potential of the emerging field of biophotovoltaics to lower the total cost and energy usage of solar power....
Geostellar raises $13M for solar data
gigaom.com
Use data, analytics and mapping to help more solar panels get installed on more rooftops — that’s the idea behind startup Geostellar, which this week closed on almost $14 million in equity funding and options, according to a filing. The company lists satellite imaging company GeoEye and Flash Forward Ventures...
Why diluted investments are diluting cleantech's impact
gigaom.com
Recently there has been significant discussion about what constitutes financial success in cleantech. At a minimum, VCs want 10X returns on a few deals to get excited about a sector. The company I founded, SunEdison, and many other deals fell short of this goal, good returns, but not 10X returns....
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