7 Solar Energy News Stories {Weekly Round-Up}
July 12th, 2011 by Zachary Shahan
Some solar energy news from around from the past week or so….
Infineon Raceway Adds Solar Panels for Power (& Sheep for Lawn Mowers)
Our sister site Gas2 had an interesting story last week on a raceway that is going solar & using sheep to mow the fields. The raceway’s 1,652-solar-panel array will provide it with 41% of it’s power. [Gas2]
How to Continue “Ferocious” Solar Power Cost Reductions
Stephen Lacy of Climate Progress had a great piece last week on the tremendous historical cost reductions of solar PV power, how we have achieved them, and how to continue achieving them. [Climate Progress]
Large Solar Farms Planned for Earthquake-Hit Japanese Region
Japan is in the midst of a massive energy turnaround. As a part of that, Mitsui & Co is looking to build two large solar power plants in in northeast Japan’s Tohoku region. The region is threatened by power outages following the catastrophic March 11 earthquake and tsunami and these plants, expected to total about 100MW, could help pick up the slack in a clean and safe way. [Reuters]
1st Solar Power “Mini-Inverter” in World
CyboEnergy’s new CyboInverter, reportedly the world’s first Mini-Inverter for solar power, provides the potential to improve solar power reliability and is reportedly “cost efficient.” [Cooler Planet]
Investment in Solar from venture Capitalists Remains Strong
Venture Capital (VC) investment in solar power continues to be in figures I can’t comprehend. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been invested in 19 solar deals in the past few months. [Greentech Media]
Solar Panel Cleaning Getting a Whole Lot Easier
Solar panels need to be cleaned. The cleaner they are, the more efficient or productive they are. To help make the cleaning process easier, King’s New Energy (KNE) is unveiling an Automatic Cleaning System for solar panels, a “smart self-cleaning solution for solar panels, using a patented, wireless, water and wiper-based technology,” at Intersolar North America 2011. [Cooler Planet]
New Nissan Electric Car Charging System Powered by Solar
You have to love electric car-solar power combos. No matter how many of these I hear about, each new announcement lifts me up. Nissan is the latest to have developed a solar-powered charging system for electric vehicles, for its Leaf electric car in particular. [Yale e360]
More cool solar stories? You can drop a link (or more) in the comments below!
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About the Author
Zachary Shahan spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as the director/chief editor. Otherwise, he's probably enthusiastically fulfilling his duties as the director/editor of Solar Love, EV Obsession, Planetsave, or Bikocity. Zach is recognized globally as a solar energy, electric car, and wind energy expert. If you would like him to speak at a related conference or event, connect with him via social media. You can connect with Zach on any popular social networking site you like. Links to all of his main social media profiles are on ZacharyShahan.com.
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