photovoltaics
China’s aggressive push into the world’s solar energy markets is taking another jump forward with China Sunergy’s announcement of a planned one-gigawatt (GW) expansion in its solar cell production capacity. The company plans to invest 1.8 billion yuan ($278 million) in an expansion project in China’
energy storage
A Swedish utility company plans to test a grid-connected system of batteries designed to store wind energy during times of low demand and better balance electricity loads. It also plans to explore how stored energy can help support an electric-car infrastructure. Falbygdens Energi (a subsidiary of Göteborgs Energi) is working
smart metering
Just a little over two years old, Google’s PowerMeter is heading for the search giant’s dustbin of history. Bill Weihl, Google’s Green Energy Czar, broke the news in a Google blog post, explaining that “our efforts have not scaled as quickly as we would like, so we
wind energy
This time-lapse video from Puget Sound Energy (PSE) shows the recent assembly of three large wind-power turbines over a 48-hour-period at phase one of PSE’s Lower Snake River Wind Project. PSE’s third — and largest — wind-power facility, the project is located in Washington state about 300 miles southeast of
smart appliances
Best Buy has teamed up with GE to fast-track the commercial availability of two energy efficiency technologies singled out last year as part of GE’s ecomagination Challenge. The companies plan to work together to prepare the VPhase home energy control device and the Suntulit air-conditioning control system for retail
photovoltaics
Tucson Electric Power (TEP) is on track to add what will be its largest single source of solar energy yet. And that’s just one step on its planned roadmap for expanding its solar power resources seven-fold over the next three years. Plans for a 25-megawatt photovoltaic (PV) array in
smart metering
A major energy-use research project just published in the UK finds that, while individual households equipped with smart meters might not always cut their electricity consumption by much, the savings generated nationwide would be substantial. British energy regulator Ofgem launched the Energy Demand Research Project (EDRP) before officials unveiled plans
concentrating photovoltaics
Now on its seventh generation of concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) solar technology, Amonix has been around longer — since 1989 — than many solar-energy companies. And it doesn’t produce CPV modules only for utility-scale solar projects, but uses them at its own manufacturing plant as well. Paid for in part with nearly
data analytics
With a future set to be populated by smart phones, smart meters, smart homes and smart grids, what other “smarts” are on the way? How about smart camp? That’s where five data analytics startups will be heading next week as part of IBM’s Global Entrepreneur SmartCamp competition in
economy
A new cross-industry organization in Great Britain will work to promote the development of the nation’s smart energy grid. SmartGrid GB’s membership includes companies in sectors ranging from energy and information and communication technologies to consumer advocates and government. The group aims to promote the many benefits — consumer,
geothermal energy
The US is betting that new ways of extracting geothermal energy from the Earth could help put it on the path to better energy security. Eight innovative geothermal projects in five states will receive up to $11.3 million from the US Department of Energy (DOE) in hopes of advancing
energy security
The decision by 28 International Energy Agency (IEA) member countries to release 60 million barrels of oil in the coming month to compensate for supply disruptions caused by the conflict in Libya has had an immediate effect on crude’s trading price. However, don’t look for it to result
