by Catherine Deshayes: HomeSun, the free power company, today announced that a staggering 42,000 homeowners across the UK have made an application to claim their free solar panels…Out of the 42,000 applicants, only two people applied to buy the solar panels outright.

A report by Ofgem has highlighted a rise in the number of solar installations being carried out. However this rise should not be confused with the appetite to buy solar panels.
HomeSun provides homeowners with three options to install solar PV (Buy, SolarShare, Free) and is therefore well positioned in the marketplace to gauge consumer mood across the UK.  Data collated by HomeSun clearly shows that the new wave of free and low cost solar schemes are working well for homeowners, democratising solar, and making it available to all.

Daniel Green, CEO at HomeSun, said:  “We believe that solar should be accessible for more homeowners.  We can meet demand by offering different packages – and our statistics clearly show which way the British public is voting.

“Homeowners who have access to £11,000 and plan to stay in their home for more than ten years would be advised to buy solar and benefit directly from Government FiTs (Feed in tariffs), and yes, Prince Charles is one of these people.  However, these types of homeowners are in a minority.”With jobs under threat, people downsizing their homes and ever-increasing energy bills, we have seen demand for free and low cost solar PV far outnumbers demand for any other type of package.” HomeSun stresses that homeowners review their personal circumstances and work out whether it is best for them to buy, or look at Free Solar or SolarShare. Daniel Green, HomeSun comments: “Through companies such as HomeSun, the FiT’s scheme is doing exactly what government intended – encouraging business enterprise, creating jobs, reducing bills of homeowners, and reducing the country’s carbon footprint.”

SAN FRANCISCO & HONOLULU–SunRun, the nation’s leading home solar company, today announced that its solar power service is now available in Hawaii. The company allows homeowners to have rooftop solar panels installed for as little as $0 down and pay monthly for solar electricity. Homeowners save up to 15% right away and control their electricity costs over time. In addition, SunRun owns, monitors, maintains, and insures the panels for no additional cost. This launch is SunRun’s second expansion in just two months, and it furthers the company’s mission to increase access to affordable solar power while driving job creation for local installers. “Our solar power service now makes solar a reality for homeowners in Hawaii by removing the high upfront cost.”

“It is important that we provide our homeowners and businesses adequate access to clean, renewable sources of energy,” said Hawaii Senator Daniel K. Inouye. “Nearly 90 percent of the power generated and consumed in Hawaii is the product of imported fossil fuels. Hawaii’s location in the middle of the Pacific Ocean makes it the perfect place to take advantage of the energy provided by the sun. I commend SunRun for being part of the effort to move Hawaii into a clean energy future.”

SunRun partners with local installers in each new market to facilitate job creation, and has partnered in Hawaii with RevoluSun and Sunetric, two of the leading local integrators. SunRun partners employ over 2,500 workers, and one notable partner was able to add 75 new employees in 2009 due to SunRun’s solar power service. Recently, SunRun President Lynn Jurich spoke on a panel with Nevada Senator Harry Reid about creating green jobs, and she advised President Obama at The White House last December on the same topic.

by,Peter Lehner – Executive Director – Natural Resources Defense Council. While I was traveling in China last week, I visited the headquarters of Trina Solar, one of the largest solar photovoltaic manufacturers in the world.

The tour was very impressive and showed me so clearly what you can accomplish with targeted clean energy policies—the kind of policies we cannot get through the U.S. Congress.

In China, similar policies are creating thousands of good jobs as well as tax revenue, export sales, and pride in helping shape a prosperous, sustainable future.  I was told that the name Trina comes from the word for harmony between the heavens and the people; it’s actually pretty fitting.

Trina Solar is only 13 years old, and it already has more than 10,000 employees and ­­­­expects to double its sales this year, just as it has in the last four years.  Talking with Trina executives, I began to see how China could go from being a bit player in the global PV market to becoming the nation with 50 percent of worldwide sales. Read on

TORONTO, ONTARIO – Direct Energy and PURE Energies are pleased to announce a new partnership which will promote a cleaner environment and energy efficiency for residential homes – at no cost to the home owner – through a unique offer which bundles home services with solar power. 

”Pairing solar power – a renewable resource – with high efficiency heating and cooling equipment and annual maintenance service is an amazing opportunity for home owners to embrace a greener home and realize substantial energy savings,” said Chris Buitron, Senior Marketing Director, Direct Energy Home Services. “We are always promoting energy efficiency tips and measures to consumers at large, while working to develop innovative ways to help our customers be more energy efficient.” 

PURE Energies – a provider of the world’s leading PV (photovoltaic) solar panels and inverters – will install and service solar systems that would normally cost between $40,000-80,000.

Homeowners can choose from different ‘bundle’ plans based on PV panel size. Each bundle is a combination of high efficiency heating and cooling equipment and products and a related maintenance package. Annual maintenance is core to ensuring cooling and heating appliances run smoothly and efficiently during their lifespan.

Oakland, Calif., September 15, 2010 — Chevron and Solar Millennium, LLC, won unanimous approval from the California Energy Commission to build and operate its Blythe Solar Power Project, a concentrating solar power facility.
Combined, the four 250 MW plants will deliver 1,000 MW of nominal generating capacity, or enough electricity to power more than 300,000 homes annually.
Construction of the first two Blythe solar power plants is expected to begin by the end of the year. The plant complex could start generating power in 2013.
Having received formal approval from the California Energy Commission, the project must now secure a Record of Decision approving the project’s Right of Way Grant from the Federal Bureau of Land Management, which is expected this fall.
The company is also actively pursuing completion of financing with the U.S. Department of Energy Loan Guarantee Program for the first phase of the project, representing about 500 MW of generating capacity.
Converting the high-intensity solar radiation of the California desert into electricity will bring a host of environmental benefits to the state. Once constructed, the solar project will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about two million tons per year, or the equivalent of removing more than 300,000 cars from the road.

PRINCETON, N.J. & PHOENIX–(BUSINESS WIRE)–As students attend classes in several Arizona school districts this fall, the schools will be featuring on-campus solar arrays specially designed to meet their own electricity needs while providing the school’s faculty with new teaching tools. This clean solar energy program has been conceived by Arizona’s Kennedy Partners, LLC and co-developed by Kennedy, NRG Solar, a subsidiary of NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NRG), and in conjunction with Pinnacle West, APS and public officials across the state.
As a first stage of the program, NRG Solar and Kennedy Partners are building 12 large solar pavilions at schools which are part of the Continental Elementary School District in Green Valley, south of Tucson and the Gila Bend Unified School District, southwest of Phoenix. Additionally, NRG and Kennedy Partners are currently working on similar large scale projects at Payson Unified School District, northeast of Phoenix, and Arlington Elementary School District, west of Phoenix. This unique public/private partnership allows the schools to benefit not only from available utility incentives but also from the federal and state tax benefits.

The solar cells on these pavilions will collectively generate more than 2.5 megawatts (MW) of power for the schools, roughly the same amount of power consumed by more than 2,000 homes. In reducing greenhouse gases, this is the equivalent of taking more than 550 passenger vehicles off Arizona’s roads.