SunPower Shines On Solar Impulse

Posted on December 7, 2011 by quest

One has to wonder how the Wright Brothers and Amelia Earhart would feel to see solar power aviation begin to take flight. Today San Francisco Bay Area solar manufacturer SunPower announced it is providing solar cells to the Solar Impulse project. Solar Impulse HB-SIA is the first aircraft that can fly day and night without fuel or polluting emissions. In July 2010 Solar Impulse was launched by Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg. The flight demonstrated the enormous potential of new technologies for saving energy and renewable forms of energy. The lessons learned from this first prototype are now being incorporated into the development of a second airplane, HB-SIB, which will attempt to fly round the world starting in 2014.The Solar Impulse team has produced a prototype (HB-SIA) solar airplane that, for the first time in aviation history, succeeded in flying for 26 consecutive hours powered only by solar energy. A second solar airplane (HB-SIB) is currently under construction with plans to circumnavigate the globe in 2014. Both planes are powered by SunPower’s high-efficiency solar cells. “We are pleased to partner with SunPower, a leader in designing and delivering high-efficiency solar technologies. SunPower’s solar cells are optimum for this project, as they offer the performance and low-weight that is needed for our revolutionary solar airplanes,” said Andre Borschberg, Solar Impulse co-founder and CEO.

PLANET SOLAR

SunPower is also a sponsor of Planet Solar to power the world’s largest solar catamaran that is currently on an around-the-world tour, arriving at most destinations ahead of schedule, weather permitting. Since 2005, SunPower has supported university students with high-efficiency SunPower solar systems for their solar home entries in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon. And in 2009, the company also supported students with their entries in the first Solar Decathlon Europe.

Tom Werner, SunPower president and CEO said, “SunPower is pleased to be involved with such an ambitious project as the Solar Impulse airplane as it prepares for its record-setting, around-the-world flight.” As a vertically integrated company, SunPower not only powers distinctive projects such as Solar Impulse, but our high-efficiency, high-reliability solar panels are chosen by residential, commercial and utility-scale power plant customers worldwide. We are confident that our experience in developing our industry-leading technology with guaranteed performance will help the Solar Impulse airplane to successfully achieve its goal to circumnavigate the globe.”

It’s time to meet 21st century rail

Environmentalist RFK Jr Calls Out Sock Puppets

Posted on November 26, 2011 by quest

Robert F Kennedy Jr has been on the vanguard of the environmental movement long before it began moving toward the mainstream. In his weekly radio show Ring of Fire he along with Mike Papantonio and Sam Seder have been chronicling the exploits of coal, oil and nuclear polluters for years. Robert has a reputation as a resolute defender of the environment which stems from a litany of successful legal actions. He was named one of Time magazine’s “Heroes for the Planet” for his success helping Riverkeeper lead the fight to restore the Hudson River. The group’s achievement helped spawn more than 130 Waterkeeper organizations across the globe.

In his just published article in the Huffington Post,”Big Carbon’s Sock Puppets Declare War on America and the Planet” Robert Kennedy lays out an incredibly accurate analysis of Americas environmental, energy and business based challenges. He begins the article, “It’s now become de rigueur among the radical right wing rhetoricians to characterize any government support of America’s green energy sector as wasteful, fruitless, and scandalous. They greeted with glee the collapse of the government supported solar company, Solyndra, America’s first major casualty in our race with China to dominate the “new energy” economy. With Solyndra dying on the battlefield — its marketplace choking on inexpensive Chinese solar panels — the right wing’s response was to hoist the white flag and declare defeat in the war for global cleantech leadership. That brand of “Can’t Do” cowardice is a boon to the carbon and nuclear power incumbents who fund so much of the right wing’s activities — but it’s bad for America.”

Speaking at Solar Power International in 2009 as keynote speaker his address was called, A vision for Energy Independence, Jobs and National Wealth. It’s interesting to look at his talk now through the lens of some history thats paseed and the what’s been going on most recently in the multi billion global solar industry. His article is quite timely as some 60,000 protesters from across Japan including a Nobel-prize-wnning author Kenzaburo Oe, gathered in central Tokyo for an anti-nuclear rally recently, urging the Japanese government to cut reliance on atomic power. So far Germany is one of the few countries that has agreed to stop building nuclear power plants.

News & Community: Green News Wall

More Environmental Legal Woes for JinkoSolar

Posted on November 26, 2011 by quest

It had to be within days of announcing it’s sponsorship of the San Francisco 49ers in September that JinkoSolar was feeling some environmental heat. The Huffington Post reported in mid September,“Police detained at least 20 people after hundreds of villagers protested last week, some storming the factory compound and overturning vehicles. Authorities said the factory had failed to address earlier environmental complaints and that the protests followed mass fish deaths in late August due to runoff from heavy rains.” Then in early October the company reported it was in the process of completion of its phase I environment safety upgrade at its facility in Haining City west of Shanghai in the Zhejiang Province of China.

Since then Los Angeles based law firm Glancy Binkow & Goldberg LLP has just filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of investors who purchased or otherwise acquired Jinko stock on the open market between May 13, 2010 and September 21, 2011. The securities fraud class action lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

The Complaint alleges that in the Prospectus and Registration Statement issued in connection with the Company’s IPO, and in subsequent filings with Securities and Exchange Commission, JinkoSolar represented that the Company was in full compliance will all environmental regulations in the People’s Republic of China. The Complaint further alleges that last month, after a massive die-off of fish in a river adjacent to JinkoSolar’s primary manufacturing facility in Haining, China, hundreds of local residents protested and eventually ransacked the facility, 31 people were detained by police, and the facility was shut for several weeks.

Solar Megawatt Step

Chevy Volt Being Fed Checked

Thankful For A Renewable Vision

Posted on November 24, 2011 by quest

It’s that time of year again. When as a nation Americans give thanks. The thanks are for family, friends and people who make a difference in the lives of others. In that regard I personally have a great deal to be thankful for. But as a national and global society do we ever stop and think about the people who are out there everyday doing things that are on a scale that can transform the world? One such person is Secretary of Energy Steven Chu‘s here are his comments from a recent speech in Colorado. “I’m here at a critical time for America’s energy future. It’s a time of challenge, but it’s also a time of opportunity. Last year, more than $240 billion was invested globally in clean energy. The worldwide market for solar photovoltaic systems alone is worth more than $80 billion.

The solar market is going to explode in the coming decades. According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, trillions of dollars will be invested globally in solar and other renewable energy sectors over the next 20 years. Countries around the world, especially China, recognize the economic potential in the solar market, and are racing at full speed to capture the lead. China leads the world in total clean energy investments and has provided strong government support to its solar industry. Today, China’s market share in solar cell and solar module production is roughly 50 percent, up significantly from just a few years ago.Meanwhile, the U.S. market share has dropped. In 1995, the United States produced more than 40 percent of the world’s solar panels, but last year, we only produced about seven percent. Although the United States invented solar PV technologies, we are no longer the leading manufacturer. Instead of watching a technology be discovered in America and then shipped overseas, we need to fight to keep it here. Other countries want these opportunities and are moving aggressively; so must we.”

He went on to say, “America has a choice to make today: Are we going to be importers or exporters of solar technologies? We can accept defeat and watch the solar jobs go to China, Germany and other countries, or we can get in the game and play to win, creating jobs in Colorado and across the country. To compete in the clean energy race, we have to do more than invent technologies, we have to make them and sell them too. Steven Chu recently appeared before Congress and personally took the heat for the Solyndra failure. He heads an agency that’s doing everything it can to spark innovation through programs such as the Sunshot Initiative, Solar Decathlon and DOE Recovery Act. Dr Chu is a Noble Peace Prize Winner and we can be grateful to him for bringing a scientific, environmental, business and social consciousness to the cause of renewable energy in America.

Intersolar Heading For Beijing

Anti-nuclear rally in Japan

The Challenging World Solar Challenge Race

Posted on November 6, 2011 by quest

The results of the 2011 Veolia World Solar Challenge, a prestigious international racing event that attracts the world’s best technical universities and colleges has been announced. Race officials reported,” As was stated at the awards ceremony, the near perfect weather experienced in the past three or four events lulled many experienced Solar Challengers into a false sense of security. This time there were those who were able to take on a few hours unexpected static charge while waiting for bushfire ravished roads to reopen. Others struggled under the thousands of square kilometres of smoke haze which drifted across the continent, often thick enough to blot out the sun altogether.” As reported here three US teams UC Berkeley, Stanford and the University of Michigan were strong contenders going into the World Solar Challenge. The competition aims to help discover new automotive technologies that rely on the power of the sun by engaging student teams to develop electric vehicles for a week-long, 1,877 mile vehicle endurance test across the Australian Outback from Darwin to Adelaide. In first place was Tokai University – Japan. Second place was Nuon Solar Team – The Netherlands. In third place was the University of Michigan – United States.

Teams not able to maintain a reasonable minimum speed are invited to maximise their experience in the event by running their solarcar for a few hours each day before moving their car forward in their truck or on their trailer. The rules surrounding this exercise allow a great deal of flexibility in their application to enable the particular circumstances and the conditions to be taken into consideration. The finalisation of the results was delayed mostly by the contention of one team who, so desperate to show their sponsors a clean finish, demanded recognition of a place the number of irregularities involved denied them.

A small number of teams questioned the number of solar kilometres attributed to them so the decision was taken to audit all the log books where these are recorded in the team log by the Observer (which the team manager should sign at the end of each day) and transmitted to Mission Control for incorporation into the overall results. Interesting errors such as trailered Km being substituted for Solar Km, and solar credits being given to Control Points instead of actual distance covered were discovered and the complications of this event outlined earlier led to some interesting arithmetic from some Observers! Some gained from the exercise, others not. The figures have now been checked and cross checked with the result that we are now able to verify the Official Record and present the final results.

Eco Fashion…Where does it come from?

Thousands Gather Outside White House Against Pipeline

Solar Energy Leader SunPower Reorganizes

Posted on November 4, 2011 by quest

Silicon Valley solar manufacturer SunPower Corp. today announced a reorganization to align its businesses and cost structure with expected market conditions in 2012 and beyond. These changes will be effective immediately. Several of the company’s longest-tenured executives will adjust their areas of responsibility, including Howard Wenger, who will assume the title of President, Regions and Jack Peurach, who will assume the title Executive Vice President, Products, and Marty Neese, will remain Chief Operating Officer with expanded responsibilities. In addition, the company announced today on its earnings call that its Chief Financial Officer, Dennis Arriola, will be leaving the company in March of 2012 and that Jim Pape, its President, Residential and Commercial, will be leaving the company later this month. Earlier this year SunPower partnered with French oil producer, Total in a transaction that gives Total a $2.3 billion equity stake in SunPower. The companies announced that the broad strategic relationship would shape the future of the solar industry.

New Solar Global Power Makers

“SunPower’s differentiated technology and vertically integrated, diversified channel strategy has established our company as a leader in the industry and positioned us well to address the challenges of the current solar market environment,” said Tom Werner, SunPower CEO. “As we look to 2012, we plan to align our business structure “Everybody loves the sunshine”

to accelerate our product and technology innovation, increase the efficiency of our processes and reduce our costs. We are reorganizing the company to a regional business focus, a products group with product line profit and loss responsibility, and we will extend the responsibility of our upstream group to incorporate the research and development of our world-leading efficiency solar cell and panels.

“I thank Howard, Jack and Marty for stepping up to new or expanded roles at SunPower,” continued Werner. “Over the last three years, Dennis has established a culture of strong controls, continual process improvements and high quality standards in the finance and accounting teams, and built up a strong set of leaders around him. After the recent successful series of financings and credit facilities that he and his team have completed, I accepted his request to transition out of the company to pursue new opportunities and thank him for his leadership and contributions during tremendous growth at SunPower. Similarly, Jim Pape has grown the residential and commercial business in scale, footprint and efficiency during his tenure and we thank him for his contributions and leadership.”