Google Invests $80 Million to Open 6 Solar Energy Plants

        Google is investing $80 million in 6 new solar plants in California and Arizona that the company says will provide enough electricity for 17,000 homes in the United States. The investment is Google's 14th in renewable energy. The company has so far put more than $1 billion behind solar and wind projects since April 2010. Google is partnering with investment firm KKR for the venture; the lead developer is Recurrent Energy.
       According to a Google blog post, the projects have a combined capacity of 106 megawatts. A typical coal power station produces 600-700 megawatts while a nuclear power plant puts out 900-1,300 megawatts. Google currently gets 33% of its energy from renewable sources, but hopes to be 100% reneawble at some point.

New York and Solar Energy?

           Owens Corning, the Fortune 500 buildings materials company, is probably best known for its pink fiberglass insulation. Now it's got another claim to fame: the company's Bethlehem, New York manufacturing plant, already the winner of a New York State Governor's Award for pollution prevention, is, as of [recently], home to one of the largest industrial solar arrays in the Empire State.
          The company had flipped the switch on the 2.7 megawatt installation [on October 15] at noon--just as sunshine broke through the clouds, as if on cue. The solar array was approximately 9,000 ground-mounted photovoltaic panels located on more than 9 acres, on a former cornfield close to the plant. The array demonstrates the benefits of pollution-free electricity, producing enough clean power from the sun to supply some 6% of the plant's electricity needs.
          It also demonstrates the benefits of Governor Cuomo's NY-Sun Initiative, without which this solar array would not have come into being. The initiative is currently funded through 2015, but we hope that with one last push from the Governor, NY-Sun will live on as a 10-year, $150-million-a-year effort to finally make New York a solar leader.
          Sunny states like California, Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico are, of course, early leaders in installed solar capacity, but Northeastern states also have a high potential for solar power. Currently, the great state of New York lags behind New Jersey and Massachusetts in total solar power installed. However, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association, New York is catching up, thanks to NY-Sun and is now #8 in the country for installed solar power, up from #13 at the beginning of 2013.

Solar Plane completes its 2nd quarter of it's cross-country flight

A solar-powered plane with its side by side propellers and the pilot named Andre Borsche along with Bertrand Piccard, the ones in charge of the project, took on a challenge of travelling cross-country  powered only by the sun. The plane had gotten airborne off the ground of California early May headed to  Phoenix, Arizona taking part in completing its 1st quarter of its travel. After it's take off from Phoenix, Arizona last Wednesday, the plane landed safely at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport in Texas finishing off it's 2nd trip cross country. After preparations, the plane is expected to take off from Texas to Washington, then crossing the finish line at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York. Each trip is measured to take about 20 hours with several of days for inspection at each of the cities.