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It may not be powering its ships using the sun, but the U.S. Navy will soon be using solar power to keep at least some of the lights on at 14 of its installations in California. The Department of the Navy (DON) recently signed an agreement with Western Area Power Administration and Sempra U.S. Gas [...]The post Coming Soon: The Solar-Powered Navy appeared first on POWER Magazine.

This week brought announcements from India and the state of Wisconsin regarding the repurposing of sites previously associated with coal-fired power generation for future solar power generation. In India’s capital of Delhi, the 240-MW coal-fired Indraprastha Power Station, which was closed in 2010, will be the site of a new 5-MW solar photovoltaic installation. As [...]The post Sites Shift from Coal Power to Solar Power appeared first on POWER Magazine.

Google calculates hours of sunlight per year, estimates savings with 3D modeling.

Project Sunroof is a new tool from Google that lets users find potential energy savings by switching to solar power. The project uses Google Maps and information taken from other databases to show users possible configurations of solar panels on their home, and put them in contact with solar energy providers. Currently, Project Sunroof is […]

Google now lets you see if your house is a good candidate for installing solar panels. Project Sunroof, a 20 percent project by Google engineering lead Carl Elkin, shows you how much solar power your roof could generate using Google Maps and the data it has about the surroundings of your home. This means it can take into account local weather, your roof’s orientation and how much shade… Read More

Project Sunroof is a new tool from Google which allows homeowners to explore easily whether or not they would benefit from solar panels. To start, the tool will be available in select regions, and will allow homeowners to put their address in, and see the projected cost savings from going solar.

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Gemini Planet Imager, the instrument used to identify 51 Eri b, is an international project featuring key Canadian contributions.

The City of Hamilton will be looking at developing a policy to govern future solar development within its boundaries after council declined to support a proposed solar project in Mountsberg.

Thanks to $13 Million in research funding from NEDO in Japan, the University of Texas at Austin will begin using alternative energy sources to power some of its HPC Clusters.The post NEDO in Japan Funds Solar Research at TACC appeared first on insideHPC.

Samsung pulls plug on project that would have been Hamilton’s largest ground-based solar plant.

After nearly a year of assessments, a proposed solar farm in Flamborough will never see the light of day.

According to data compiled and reported by Fraunhofer-Institut für Solare Energiesysteme ISE—a German-based solar energy research institute—from July 1 through August 5, solar and wind energy produced 6.24 TWh and 7.09 TWh of electricity respectively, compared to 5.94 TWh of nuclear power generation in Germany. Although it’s not the first time wind production has exceeded [...]The post Solar and Wind Power Each Surpass Nuclear Generation in Germany Since Mid-Year appeared first on POWER Magazine.

The PLAYBULB Garden provides unique lighting features for any special spot in your yard. Since our first hands-on with the PLAYBULB Rainbow Light, we've had a chance to check out the rest of Mipow's fancy lighting lineup. The outdoor option we're looking at here is the PLAYBULB Garden — a solar LED light that stakes claim anywhere outside you see fit for novelty nighttime lighting. Included with the Garden are 2 monopods that can be fitted together for extra height if needed. Snap that into place underneath, stick it in your preferred location, and let the sun do the rest.

Bright, a solar panel installation and distribution startup, pulled in $4 million in seed money to build out its solar software and financing team. The startup launched out of the last batch of Y Combinator and began building in Mexico last year. Energy is expensive and often complicated in the country, costing upwards of $4,000 USD in hot summer months in some cases, according to the… Read More

On a strip of Dutch highway, a set of plastic solar panels indicate that the future of harnessing sunlight could get more colorful. The post Clear Solar Panels Double as Highway Sound Barriers appeared first on WIRED.

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The University of Maryland Robotics Center's new Robo Raven III V4 soars on larger flapping wings that "have flexible solar cells giving the vehicle an extra 10 Watts of power. This allows this robotic bird to fly longer and recharge outdoors." (more…)

In rural West Africa, 150 million people are currently living without electricity. Oolu, a Y Combinator company launching today, aims to reduce this number by delivering affordable solar energy to West Africa’s off-grid population, beginning in Senegal. Despite the surge of innovation in solar storage and panel technology, Oolu founder Daniel Rosa says that many people living in… Read More

Social media company plans to start testing the craft, which is intended to provide internet access to remote areas, within monthsFacebook has revealed its first full-scale drone, which it plans to use to provide internet access in remote parts of the world.Code-named “Aquila”, the solar-powered drone will be able to fly without landing for three months at a time, using a laser to beam data to a base station on the ground. Continue reading...

Simon has been taking a look at accessories for your summer adventures, and one cool gadget he recently reviewed was the Venture 30 charger by Goal Zero. You'll definitely want to check out the full review, but what it boils down to is that while there is some room for improvement, overall the Venture 30 rugged battery pack is more than capable of keeping your gadgets charged while you're out on the trail. Now it's time to hook you guys up for your adventures! Keep reading to see how to enter to win your own Goal Zero Venture 30 Solar Recharging Kit or Flip 20 Recharger!

Large solar power farm development largely stopped following April cuts, new figures show, and smaller farms will be hit nextThe amount of solar power being installed in the UK has largely flatlined since the closure by the government of a subsidy scheme in April, even before a new round of subsidy cuts has taken effect.Official figures released on Thursday show that large-scale solar farm developers rushed to connect to the grid in March to get in before the government excluded farms larger than 5MW, enough to power 2,500 homes, from its renewable obligation (RO) scheme. Continue reading...

The nearly half a million solar panels that have sprouted south of Cayuga mean more than green energy to the residents of nearby Six Nations.

Planning minister, Jackie Trad, considers using ‘call-in’ power that would give her final approval which could not be challengedThe Queensland government is considering stepping in to head off a legal challenge to one of Australia’s largest planned solar farms in the state’s northern sugar belt.The Spanish renewable energy developer FRV has approval from the local council and a deal with a cane farmer to build a 130-megawatt facility on his property in Clare, where the company says there is some of the most powerful sunlight in the country.

An aurora has been spotted around a brown dwarf more than 18 light years away, scientists report.

Council approves two solar projects

A sustainable solution that could make use of the existing power infrastructure.

Hybrid materials could boost photovoltaic efficiencies by 30 percent or more

Geoff Moore (Letters, 28 July) seems very poorly informed as to how the payments for rooftop solar arrays are calculated. If nothing is generated and therefore there is no export to the grid, the payment would be nil.We have a solar array and in four years have generated over 13,500 kilowatt-hours. In summer we could generate up to 350 kilowatt-hours a month, in winter maybe a tenth of that, and payments reflect this. Continue reading...

At the end of last year, houses held 3.3 Gigawatts of capacity.

Business briefs: TransAlta Corp. has signed a deal to buy 71 megawatts of solar and wind power generation capacity in the U.S. in a deal worth $75.8 million US.

Democratic frontrunner for the 2016 presidential nomination promises to save Americans money and to free them from monthly electricity billsBarack Obama ran for president promising to save the planet. Hillary Clinton is promising to help people save money on their electricity bills.

The solar plane’s attempt to fly around the world has been grounded by battery failure. As the pilots regroup for the next leg, they discuss the highs and lows of their epic journeyThe darkest moment of André Borschberg’s unprecedented solar flight across the Pacific was not when he learned of the battery failure that has now suspended the Solar Impulse flight until next spring.It was 12 hours into the journey, as he flew about 6,000 metres over the Pacific, south-east of Tokyo, and a decision had to be made about whether to continue. “Before every flight you have what we call the point of no return – it was the afternoon of the first day,” he says. Continue reading...

Victorian MP Sarah Henderson asks the government to include in its draft mandate investment in emerging technologies such as wind and solarA Liberal backbencher is lobbying the government to stop its push to, in effect, ban the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) from investing in wind and small-scale solar energy.The Victorian Liberal MP, Sarah Henderson, has written to the finance minister, Mathias Cormann, asking that the government include wind and small-scale solar energy in its investment mandate. Continue reading...

Democratic presidential frontrunner also says she wants America to generate enough clean renewable energy to power every home within 10 yearsDemocratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has announced goals for increasing US reliance on renewable energy, pledging to have more than half a billion solar panels installed nationwide within four years of taking office.Clinton, the front-runner for her party’s 2016 presidential nomination, also pledged on her website on Sunday that the United States would generate enough clean renewable energy to power every home in the country within 10 years of taking office. Continue reading...