Is Solar Power Really too Expensive or Is that Just What Opponents Want You to Think

Example of a centralized solar plant model where everything would be controlled by the utility company - even price.

Recently I visited the west coast of the U.S. and being a resident of Florida for the past twenty-plus years I must say that I was totally exhilarated by what I saw in California, and totally disappointed with what I know to be the case in Florida. Over and over, I saw the rooftops of homes covered with solar panels. Compare that to what is the case in Florida where such a sight is barely nascent. The simple fact is that Florida (the Sunshine State) homeowners are virtually non-existent when it comes to distributive solar power or rooftop solar. How is this possible when you consider the following presumption… … Continue Reading

New Mexico among solar energy leaders

Visual of First Solar, Southern Co. and Turner Renewable Energy project that will add 30 megawatts of utility-scale solar power to the New Mexico electric grid.

SANTA FE, N.M.—A new report says New Mexico is among the nation’s leaders in production of electricity from solar power. … Continue Reading

Cheap Solar Power at Night

Solar storage: The beads in these vials are made of two types of glass that can store heat up to 1,200°C. Halotechnics

Solar power has two main problems: it’s expensive, and it’s intermittent, since the output of a solar power plant depends on the time of day and cloud cover. Halotechnics, an early-stage solar-thermal startup, could help solve both problems.

The company has developed new heat-storage materials that promise to not only make solar-thermal power plants more efficient, but also reduce the cost of storing energy from the sun for use when it’s most needed. … Continue Reading

New Solar Panels Blossomed Despite a Tough Year for the Industry

Solar is becoming very affordable for buyers

By DIANE CARDWELL - Last year seemed like a dark one for the solar industry: Stiff competition from China drove American manufacturers to layoffs and even bankruptcy, while the low price of natural gas and the loss of a critical government subsidy weakened incentives for new solar developments. And then there was the long shadow of Solyndra, whose bankruptcy after receiving federal loans cast a pall over other green-energy endeavors. … Continue Reading

Why gasoline prices are so high

Many say speculators behind sharply rising oil and gasoline prices

Gasoline prices are keeping up their record-setting ways. And it could get a lot worse.

Here’s a Q&A to fire your engine, if you need firing up

What Do You Think…Your Voice Does Count!

Who Has A Real Plan For Lowering Gas Prices and Solving Our Overall Energy Crises?

Leaving your comment can go a long way towards resolution. Don’t sit on the sideline…

Amory Lovins Lays Out His Clean Energy Plan

For four decades, Amory Lovins has been a leading proponent of a renewable power revolution that would wean the U.S. off fossil fuels and usher in an era of energy independence. In an interview with Yale Environment 360, he talks about his latest book, which describes his vision of how the world can attain a green energy future by 2050.
Amory B. Lovins is fond of referring to the Rocky Mountain Institute, where he serves as chairman and chief scientist, as a “think and do” tank, and it’s clear that to Lovins the doing is every bit as important as the thinking. Hardly lacking in confidence or ambition, Lovins — in conjunction with his colleagues at the institute — has published Reinventing Fire, his step-by-step blueprint for how to transition to a renewable energy economy by mid-century.

Amory Lovins

Impressive in both its scope and detail — Lovins discusses everything from how to redesign heavy trucks to make them more fuel efficient to ways to change factory pipes to conserve energy — the book lays out a plan for the U.S. to achieve the following by 2050: cars completely powered by hydrogen fuel cells, electricity, and biofuels; 84 percent of trucks and airplanes running on biomass fuels; 80 percent of the nation’s electricity produced by renewable power; $5 trillion in savings; and an economy that has grown by 158 percent. … Continue Reading

Walmart Takes to Renewable Energy in Stores

A Walmart Solar rooftop in Palm Desert, Ca.

By David Ozment  – Green power really is the future. That’s why we are investing in solar, wind and fuel cells – especially in California and Texas where renewables provide nearly 30 percent of electricity for many of our stores. … Continue Reading

CPV Completes Project Financing for the Cimarron Wind Energy Project in Gray County, Kansas

CPV Renewable Energy Company closed on project financing of Keenan II in February 2010, with construction following, using 66 Siemens 2.3 MW wind turbines.

BRAINTREE, Mass.,  CPV Renewable Energy Company (CPV Renewable Energy) announced that it closed financing for the construction of its 165.6 MW Cimarron Wind Energy Project in Gray County, Kansas. The company began construction of the renewable energy facility in early December 2011 and expects that the Cimarron project will achieve commercial operation in November 2012. … Continue Reading