The solar industry has crossed major hurdles in the last decade, working diligently to become the ideal source of green, renewable energy. However, certain obstacles still remain; petroleum engineering in solar cell mechanisms is becoming increasingly more expensive due to constant climbing oil prices and is considered environmentally impure, as it is a form of crude oil. In light of these issues, solar engineers have employed…

The 2009 AWEA Windpower Conference kicked off yesterday in the windy city of Illinois, with some excellent news regarding bipartisan support for renewable energy. The polling was conducted by Garin Hart Yang Research Group and found that 75% of voters favored the Renewable Electricity Standard (RES), which requires utilities to produce at least 25 percent of their electricity from renewable energy resources by the year 2025. The polling revealed bipartisan support for the RES…

The Bay Area of San Francisco is among many counties in the U.S. which has been approved by the Department of Energy (DOE) to collect federal stimulus dollars for development in renewable energy programs. The city of San Francisco was allocated the largest portion with over $7 million going toward renewables, while Oakland will receive about $4 million and San Jose – being slightly larger in population – will receive $8.8 million. Each city and county will be left to decide where the funds will be distributed…

Anheuser-Busch recently publicized that their Fairfield, CA brewery now holds more than 6 acres of photovoltaic solar arrays (a grouping of multiple solar panels), which currently produces about 3% of the brewery’s electricity needs. In 2008, the company collaborated with SunEdison to bring functionality together with energy and environmental consciousness by constructing the six-acre solar farm on factory grounds. The ground-mounted solar power system generates…

PG&E is working with the state of California to provide electricity generation for its residents from a solar electricity hub based in outer space. The power purchase agreement calls for the collection of 200 MW by space-based solar arrays over a fifteen year span and will be beamed down to earth through data frequencies. PG&E is currently seeking permission from state regulators to formulate a deal with Solaren, a large solar power engineering company…