Rise & Shine: October 16, 2008
The Rise & Shine is your daily source for all solar-industry news. Brought to you by Sweet Solar Home and the Experts at SunRun.
CALIFORNIA NEWS
States Presents Bold Plan to Clean Up Air
California regulators, following the lead of Bay Area air quality managers, would impose fees on the state’s worst air polluters as part of a bold proposal to slash emissions to 1990 levels.
Real Goods Solar Merges with Regrid Power
This is the Company’s fourth acquisition in less than a year.
A Solar Bond for Los Angeles?
The Green Energy and Good Jobs for Los Angeles Act — a plan for adding enough rooftop solar panels in Los Angeles to generate 400 megawatts of power by 2013 — is sponsored by Working Californians.
SolarCity’s New Toys: Web Monitoring 2.0 & Slick Panel Mounts
SolarCity will roll out SolarGuard 2.0, an upgrade to its web-based monitoring service later this fall. A new, proprietary mounting system, called the Canopy Mounting System, is designed to lower an installation’s physical profile and help it blend into the roof but from the press photo it looks like all the other installations we’ve seen.
NATIONAL NEWS
Suniva to Start Production Next Week
The Atlanta-based startup will begin making its monocrystalline silicon solar cells to fulfill the almost $1 billion in contracts it already has signed.
Lakeland Electric And SunEdison To Deploy 24 Megawatt Of Solar Power
The program will be the largest utility-sponsored solar PV program per metered customer in the US to date, averaging 214 watt per meter among Lakeland Electric’s approximately 112,000 customers.
NTR’s Solar Division Announces California Solar Project Update
Stirling Energy Systems has reached “data adequate” status in its application process for certification on what could be one of the world’s largest solar facilities by the Californian Energy Commission.
1366 Technologies Opens New Solar Manufacturing Facility
1366 Technologies will host a grand opening reception on October 16 to debut its new Lexington, MA manufacturing facility.
Oregon Solar Plans Power Up, Utility Prepare to Power Them
German solar maker SolarWorld is set to open its 480,000-square-foot semiconductor plant in Hillsboro today, and Sanyo broke ground at its 861,000-square-foot factory on Wednesday.
State Drops Insurance Requirement for Solar Power
State legislators hope eliminating an insurance mandate on solar-generated energy sold to Alabama Power could drive down energy costs and create “green” jobs.
UTILITY INDUSTRY & REGULATORY NEWS
SDG&E Faces Rising Tide of Lawsuits Over ‘07 Fires
The cost of the October 2007 wildfires and their devastating aftermath, a total that could stretch into the billions, has created a tangle of lawsuits that probably won’t be resolved for years to come.
SEPA Calls for Utility and Solar Industries to Work Together for Increased Solar Capacity by 2016
SEPA appealed to the U.S. electrics utility and solar industries to come together and work towards meeting an aggressive solar electric capacity growth forecast.
PSC Offers Grants for Energy Production
The NY Public Service Commission has changed its landmark RPS to provide an additional $42.6M in grants to assist residential and commercial consumers to install solar panels.
Japan to Buy Portland’s Emissions Credits
Japan signed an agreement on Tuesday to buy allowances from Poland to emit greenhouse gas, helping Tokyo achieve its goals under the Kyoto Protocol, Japan’s trade ministry said.
Clean Coal - A Contradiction in Terms
A CPUC report estimated that clean coal plants would cost 17 cents per kWh, compared to 12.7 cents for utility-scale solar power and just 9 cents for wind.
FINANCIAL NEWS & MARKETS
Solar Industry Talks Economy
Solar shares fell alongside the Dow Jones Industrial Average and other stock indices Wednesday.
SunPower Reports Third-Quarter 2008 Results
Revenue for Q3 2008 was $377.5M and compares to $382.8M in Q2 2008 and $234.3M in the Q3 2007. The Components and Systems segments accounted for 49% and 51% of Q3 revenue, respectively.
MARKETS & MARKET RESEARCH
Tax Credits Cause Residential Solar Slowdown
New residential-solar incentives, which take effect Jan. 1, are slowing down installations in some places as customers put projects on hold to wait for bigger incentives.
Tax Credits Meet Financial Meltdown
First Solar CEO Michael Ahearn and other solar industry executives say tax credits alone won’t be enough to win over customers, particularly in a slumping economy.
GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
SEIA President Rhone Resch Highlights Industry Success in Extending Federal Tax Credits, Outlines Ambitious Agenda for 2009
In 2009, SEIA will advocate for a solar carve-out in a national RES and will be a major force in shaping global warming legislation, a national net metering standard, and new transmission infrastructure
Scientists View Both Obama, McCain as Supportive
Both presidential candidates - Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama - offer policies related to global warming t hat are farther from the president than they are from each other.
TECHNOLOGY
Solar Powered Car Takes 10 Days to Charge
More and more electric vehicle makers are planning on integrating solar into next-gen vehicles as an optional accessory.
Nano-Ink Solar Startup Innovalight Ramps Up With $5M
Innovalight has received $5 million in debt financing from Leader Ventures and Silicon Valley Bank.
Video: Solar + Robots = Awesome
At the Solar Power International convention it wasn’t about solar-powered robots as much as it was robotics that can help with the manufacturing and production of solar gear.
Open Energy Unveils EcoTouch Energy Management System
Open Energy, a developer of BIPV products, energy management applications and clean solar energy solutions, has released a new home energy control panel, the EcoTouch Energy Management System.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Carbon Tax Likely Shelved for Now
Economic storm clouds and a lukewarm reception to the Liberals’ Green Shift plan will likely shelve a national carbon tax in Canada for now, experts say.
NSP Signs Supply Contract with Scheuten
Neo Solar Power, a manufacturer of solar cells, and Scheuten Solar Technology GmbH, a vertically integrated solar energy provider with global presence, have signed a five-year solar cell supply contract.
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