Author Archives: Zachary Shahan


About Zachary Shahan

I'm the director of CleanTechnica, the most popular clean energy website in the world, and Planetsave, a leading green and science news site. I've been covering green news of various sorts since 2008, and I've been especially focused on solar energy, electric vehicles, bicycling, and wind energy for the past few years. You can also find my work on Scientific American, Reuters, Think Progress, GE's ecomagination site, several sites in the Important Media network, & many other places. To connect on some of your favorite social networks, go to zacharyshahan.com or click on some of the links below.

Top 50 Solar Energy Stories Of The Year (Part Two: #11-20)

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solar shell

We’re trying to get more solar energy stories going over on Planetsave. To catch readers up, I’m doing a short series on the top 50 solar energy stories of 2013 so far. Learning from the Top 33 EV Stories article I recently published, I’m splitting this one into 5 posts. Otherwise, the page would take forever to load. Plus, it’s easier to swallow 10 at a time. It’s pretty hard to actually rank these top 50 articles, so … Read More

Top 50 Solar Energy Stories Of The Year (Part One: #1-10)

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Credit: Zachary Shahan, Clean Technica

We’re trying to get more solar energy stories going over on Planetsave. To catch readers up, I’m doing a short series on the top 50 solar energy stories of 2013 so far. I guess that’s 10 per month, theoretically. Learning from the Top 33 EV Stories article I recently published, I’m splitting this one into 5 posts. Otherwise, the page would take forever to load. Plus, it’s easier to swallow 10 at a time. It’s … Read More

Low-Income Solar Programs In California Get The Green Light

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grid alternatives

They aren’t new programs, but they are programs that were approaching a red light, one that we weren’t sure was going to turn. Luckily, the light has just turned green. But there’s one more light ahead — the California Senate light. If the a bill makes it through the California legislature, it will continue delivering good solar power to low-income households across California. Who would block that? Here’s the full release from GRID Alternatives and … Read More

ABB Unveils Ultrafast, 15-Second “Flash Charging” Electric Bus

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ABB Unveils Flash Charging Electric Bus

We’ve covered hybrid and electric buses for awhile. They’ve been growing steadily around the world and are becoming quite the cleantech solution to urban transportation needs. But there generally isn’t much “hot” news in this arena. There may be now — ABB has just unveiled a pretty wicked-looking 100% electric bus with “ultrafast charging times.” Here’s a quote from an ABB rep to me: “Using a laser-guided arm, onboard batteries are charged in 15 seconds with … Read More

Brazil Receives Requests For 392 MW Of Solar Power Projects Within One Week

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Image Credit: Brazil flag via Shutterstock

392 megawatts (MW) of solar is a lot. Brazil, which has been a wind energy leader for a long time, has started to get going in the solar energy arena. As a testament to that, in one recent week, it saw a tremendous surge of applications for solar power projects that totaled 392.4 MW. Brazil’s surge in a solar power focus has come (incidentally or on purpose) in conjunction with the upcoming FIFA World Cup … Read More

Ford To Buy Solar Power From 20 MW Mexico Solar Power Plant

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Hermosillo - Google Maps

This was a bit of a shocker to me. We all know that Google, IKEA, Walmart, Walgreens, Apple, GM, and several other major corporations have been investing heavily in solar power (presumably, to help combat climate change and to because it makes good financial sense), but this is the first I’ve heard about Ford investing in such solar power plants. Also, it’s interesting to hear that the plant is in Mexico. Mexico has tremendous (insanely good) solar … Read More

$40,000, 200-Mile Electric Car From Tesla?

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OK, don't laugh at us -- can you at least offer us a test drive... in Europe?

Back in early April, we wrote about Elon Musk’s statement that Tesla would manufacture an affordable electric car about half the price of the Tesla Model S by 2017. At the time, questions that popped up were: Which Model S (i.e. how much, exactly)? What kind of range would it get? Is it really going to happen — should we actually trust Elon this time? And, of course, will you please, please just give me … Read More

Rumor Has It — Tesla To Triple Supercharger Network Size

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Supercharger Tesla Motors charge time

I mentioned the news in my previous Tesla article earlier this morning, but that wasn’t the focus of the piece, so I thought I’d write another short one right now. Reportedly, Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk said at the AllThingsD D11 conference yesterday that he’d be announcing today that the Tesla Supercharger network would be tripling in size. Last night, I received notification about a Tesla Motors press conference later today, in which two or three members … Read More

Tesla Now Worth 25% Of GM, But Just Wait a Few Hours….

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tesla stock

Tesla’s stock has been climbing strong, and I’m feeling mighty angry at myself, since I was planning to buy some a couple months ago… but never did. At the moment, Tesla’s stock price is over $104, and the good folks over at Venture Beat have noted that Tesla’s now worth about 25% of GM. It’s interesting, actually, because Chrysalix President and CEO Wal van Lierop, while interviewed by Future360 TV a couple months ago, said … Read More

261 MPG VW XL1 Likely To Just Be Available For Lease

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Image Credit: Autoblog

And not in the US…. The Volkswagen XL1, which has been deemed the world’s most efficient car, is apparently not likely to ever be in the hands of many drivers. Rumor is, only about 250 units of the car will be manufactured, and the car won’t be shipped to and US shores (unless a super rich individual gets their hands on one and does so). Also, rumor is, the car will only be available for … Read More