Renewable Energy News

SolCool One, LLC has joined Sun King Solar, Inc., EnviroBoard, Inc. and LED Lights, Inc. to promote and participate in the building of sustainable, low cost housing throughout the world. Alliance members are committed to providing the public and private sectors with long term housing solutions that are utility bill free, toxin free and have superior survivability during natural catastrophic events.

The North Face, a supplier of outdoor apparel, has completed construction of a 1-megawatt (MW) solar electricity system at its West Coast distribution center located in Visalia, California.

BP Solar will stop producing solar photovoltaic (PV) cells and panels at its manufacturing plant in Sydney Olympic park at the end of March 2009. The company said that is looking to focus its operations at larger scale plants in lowest cost manufacturing countries, in order to drive down the cost of solar power for consumers.

enXco announced that it has closed on the project financing for the Shiloh II Wind Energy Project under construction in the Montezuma Hills Wind Resource Area of Solano County, California.

One of the world's biggest wind turbines with a hybrid tower is being built at the wind test site in Grevenbroich west of Cologne. The tower combines a lower segment consisting of long, narrow pre-cast concrete components made by Advanced Tower Systems (ATS) and an upper segment made of conventional steel elements.

China's plans to reach 100 gigawatts (GW) of installed wind power generation capacity by 2020 are unlikely to be derailed by the current global financial crisis, according to a recent study of China's wind power market from Emerging Energy Research (EER).

Raser Technologies, Inc. announced that the sale of the initial US $10 million of its common stock, under an agreement relating to the private placement of US $20 million of its common stock announced last week, closed on November 14, 2008.

In the world of environmentally sensitive and sustainable building, green roofs are becoming more popular in new commercial building and renovation projects. The investment in covering a roof with soil and plants can pay off through mitigating stormwater runoff, lessening the heat island effect and offsetting interior heating and cooling costs.

Louisville, CO 2008 – Bella Energy's 10 kilowatt solar electric system on the Colorado State Capitol is part of the Governor's Energy Office's "Greening Government" project, which encourages state employees to be leaders in Gov. Ritter's New Energy Economy. Energy conservation and efficiency measures will reduce the environmental impact of state operations with the goal to reduce energy use 20% by 2012.

Xantrex Technology Inc., a subsidiary of Schneider Electric, supplied 10 three-phase 225 kilowatt (kW) inverters for the new solar installation at Denver International Airport (DIA) in Colorado.

MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA – November 18, 2008 – ICP Solar Technologies Inc. (OTCBB: ICPR.OB, FRANKFURT: K1U.F), a developer, manufacturer and marketer of proprietary solar panels and products, today announced that Leroy Merlin, one of Europe's largest retailers of home improvement merchandise, will stock Sunsei® solar chargers and related products in 2009. It is estimated that Leroy Merlin, which carries items ranging from decorations and accessories to construction materials, will purchase approximately $0.4 million of ICP Solar's chargers next year.

Solyndra Inc. a manufacturer of photovoltaic (PV) systems designed for commercial rooftops, announced it has signed a long-term sales contract worth up to US $320 million with Carlisle Energy Services. The multi-year deal adds to Solyndra's previously announced order backlog. The solar panels for these contracts will be manufactured at Solyndra's facilities in Fremont and Milpitas, California.

U.S. Sugar Corp. announced that it has entered into an agreement with Coskata Inc. to explore building a 100 million gallon per year cellulosic ethanol facility in Clewiston, Florida. The facility would be the world's largest second generation ethanol facility. It would convert left-over sugar cane material into ethanol.

ICP Solar Technologies Inc. a developer of solar panels and products, announced that it will begin shipping its new Sunsei GreenMeter this month. The initial customer, an education products company, will be installing the GreenMeter in 30 high schools across North America as part of scientific training stations for labs within a curriculum that focuses on renewable energy.

Recent changes to the federal residential solar investment tax credit (ITC) will have significant implications for state and local solar photovoltaic (PV) programs according to a new report. The US $2,000 ITC cap has been removed as part of the eight-year extension. In response, state and local programs are currently trying to decide whether or by how much to reduce their incentive levels in response to this additional value provided by the federal government.

The Scottish Parliament has backed the Scottish Green Party's £100 million budget proposals for home energy efficiency programs. The vote saw Holyrood back the principle of a comprehensive Scotland-wide energy efficiency scheme, including support for energy audits, insulation and appropriate microrenewables.

FTSE Group, the global index company, announced the expansion of the FTSE Environmental Opportunities Index Series with the addition of nine new indices. Launched in July 2008, the series is derived from the FTSE Global Equity Index Series and includes companies with at least 20% of their business derived from environmental markets and technologies.

On October 28, 2008, BARD Engineering GmbH inaugurated Germany's first 5-megawatt (MW) near-shore wind turbine prototype in 2- to 8-meter deep water at Hooksiel off the German North Sea coast.

IntertechPira is pleased to announce that the 3rd annual Organic Photovoltaics 2009 conference is scheduled for April 27 – 29, 2009 at the Doubletree Hotel Philadelphia in Philadelphia, PA, US. Co-Chaired by Russell Gaudiana, of Konarka Technologies Inc. and Dr. Dana Olson of the NREL, this year's program will provide a unique venue for industry experts, researchers, customers and investors to address the opportunities and most critical challenges for the commercialization of OPV technologies.

Building on the success from the 2008 edition, IntertechPira is pleased to announce that the 4th annual Photovoltaics Summit 2009 is set for June 1 – 3, 2009 at the Hotel Kabuki in San Francisco, CA, US.