During a recent heatwave, California reached a solar energy milestone. Its solar power plants hit over 1,000 MW (1 GW) of electricity generation, almost as much as their combined 1,160 MW capacity, which is equal to the power production of two large 500-MW gas-fired power stations. The power plants … [continued]
Better Place Consortium opened an electric car battery swapping station at The Netherlands’ main international airport, and one of the largest in the world, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. The station was opened in coordination with with the launch of a marque electric taxi project. The company also announced the appointment … [continued]
Toshiba Corporation, Hitachi Zosen Corporation, JFE Steel Corporation, Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd, Toa Corp, and Toyo Construction Co Ltd. are expected to invest 120 billion yen, or $1.53 billion, setting up offshore wind turbines in the near future. This is part of a massive 300-MW wind farm. The cost mentioned … [continued]
The impact of wind farms on birds has been a topic of debate and concern for many people for years. To many, wind turbines are utterly destructive “bird blenders,” while others don’t buy into that notion. (We’ll come back to that the issue later in this article.) To help … [continued]
A Finnish developer of systems that generate power from the motion of waves, AW-Energy Oy, has raised $9 million from investors to build an innovative hydroelectric plant. The country’s biggest utility, Fortum Oyj (FUM1V), is projected to help commercialize this technology. Sitra is an innovation fund that reports to … [continued]
LG Chem, a manufacturer of batteries, has been developing lithium-ion cable batteries which are flexible, knottable, and can be integrated into textiles and headphone cords. The flexibility of these batteries and the benefits of that are reminiscent of flexible solar panels, which can be integrated into almost anything, and … [continued]
SMA Solar has announced that it would enter the market of solar-diesel power networks with a new product line of solar panels. This has left analysts hopeful that sales at the company will be boosted. This new solar panel product line allows diesel generators to draw power from solar … [continued]
Tenaska Solar Ventures LLC, an affiliate of Tenaska, which is based in Omaha, announced that it has acquired the Silverleaf solar project. This is a proposed 160-MW (megawatt) photovoltaic power plant under development in southern California from Agile Solar Holdings, an affiliate of Agile Energy and Bregal Energy, which … [continued]
Obama has reportedly approved the installation of electric vehicle charging stations in and around Capitol Hill. Currently, only two US senators are known to own electric cars: Democratic Sen. Carl Levin (Michigan), whom owns a Chevy Volt EREV, and Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander (Tenn), whom owns a Nissan Leaf. … [continued]
Yesterday, IKEA officially commissioned the solar panels it had installed at its Twin Cities store power plant in Bloomington, Minnesota. This is reportedly the largest solar array in the state. The commercial power plant utilizes 142,000 square feet of 4,316 photovoltaic panels and it generates 1,014 kW (1 MW) … [continued]
