Tag Archives: solar panel
Solarreviews.com: Helping Consumers Find the Right Solar Installer
The solar energy market grew by 76% last year, according to GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association. As solar power becomes an increasingly competitive energy source, more Americans are looking for reputable companies that can meet their solar needs. Up until now, however, consumers have not had the ability to easily access ratings [...]
The Solar Elevator Has Arrived
The last place you want to be when the power goes out is stuck in an elevator, and although you’ve probably never thought about it, wouldn’t it be much safer if it was powered by renewable energy? Schindler, one of the biggest manufacturers of elevators, is marketing a solar-powered elevator starting this year. Drawing power from roof-top [...]
Will Nanosolar Survive?
Earlier this year Nanosolar went through a round of layoffs. Our sources claimed 75 percent of the staff was let go with 60 days’ pay. Here’s a California WARN notice showing all 170 employees to be lost on April 15. We spoke with two sources close to the company under conditions of anonymity. There are [...]
It’s Official: Suntech Power Now A State-Owned Entity
Any pretense of Suntech (NYSE: STP) being an independent entity is over. China’s Suntech, faced with a debt crisis and with the fate of thousands of employees’ jobs hanging in the balance, “is poised to be taken over partly or entirely by the municipal government’s holding company in its hometown, Wuxi, China,” according to reports [...]
Residential Solar: When Analyzed Properly, Returns are Great
One of the issues faced by consumers when considering going solar is that things are changing so frequently that it is hard for consumers to evaluate solar as an investment. Solar prices have fallen significantly over the past few years, but government and utility rebates and incentives have been in a perpetual state of change. These constant [...]
Shopping Malls Across America Go Solar
12 shopping malls in Arizona, California, New York and Connecticut are getting solar PV over the next year, as part of real estate owner Macerich’s corporate sustainability efforts. Panasonic is developing the 12 megawatt solar project, which is financed and owned by Panasonic’s financial platform partner, Coronal Management. This is the first phase of a national solar strategy for Macerich, which [...]
What Happened to the Thin Film Solar Market?
There is no thin-film solar market. There’s First Solar with cadmium telluride (CdTe), Solar Frontier with CIGS, and until recently Sharp in amorphous silicon (a-Si), with a few smaller players following behind. There are also a few companies looking at very thin c-Si, such as Twin Creeks or 1366 Technologies. In cadmium telluride materials, [...]
Riding the Risks and Rewards of the Solarcoaster
It’s been a while since I reflected on my career journey on what many of us in the industry have affectionately begun calling “The Solarcoaster.” Rather than look at events in the industry as a whole over the 2011-2012 period, I wanted to take a more personal view; a view as a big fish in [...]
Broken Promise? Solar Panels Still Not on White House Roof
It’s the season of campaigns and campaign promises, but for the solar industry, an unfulfilled presidential promise from nearly three years ago is still rankling. In 2011, President Obama announced that he was bringing back solar panels to the White House. Over twenty years before, in 1979, President Jimmy Carter installed a solar hot water [...]