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.

(877) 20-SOLAR Introduces Solar Power to Burbank with 0 Out-Of-Pocket Costs

         The leading Burbank solar energy company, Solar Center, is pleased to announce that their new (877) 20-SOLAR subsidiary is now offering zero down solar energy systems in Burbank. (877) 20-SOLAR is dedicated to serving every aspect of the Burbank solar energy market.
         Solar Center offers leasing options, with an extremely small upfront payment, that's usually around $1,000 but sometimes as low as zero, that allows homeowners to start saving money immediately. Homeowners can also purchase a system and earn an extremely attractive return, typically around 20% per year on the investment. Typical payback periods for solar systems today are approximately 6-8 years, although with leases the paybacks can be instant. As the solar industry has grown and matured over the last decade, the cost of putting solar panels on homes has decreased significantly. There's never been a better time to switch over to renewable clean energy than now and to Go Solar.
         Solar Center is one of a select group of Burbank solar power distributors who can offer the highest efficiency solar panels on the market, those manufactured by SunPower. With SunPower, the Solar Center can tailor a solar panel installation to specific needs and lifestyles, so customers get maximum Burbank solar energy performance without a maximum investment. Also, the provided experienced service and craftsmanship meets the highest standards set by the AAMA (The American Architectural Manufacturers Association).

Why are Solar Energy Projects a SAFE Investment?

       If you are a new investor or you simply are looking around for markets that would be safe to invest in, your choice would most likely be solar energy projects. Why? Well, one reason is because the sun will continue to shine: it currently shines enough rays on the U.S. every day to more than power us for 10 years. 

     Also, solar technology has been a proven and reliable technology. Some solar systems that were installed in the 1970's have lasted far beyond their warranties and are still producing. While it is not a new invented technology, there are improvements recently, which have helped make new systems more reliable. 

      If you are concerned about the quality and efficiency of the solar panel systems, it is most likely that the manufacturers will typically offer 25-year warranties for the equipment, minimum protection guarantees, and insurance to protect against events such as fires or hurricanes. Leading businesses and research groups like DuPont, Standard and Poors, and the Rocky Mountain Institute recently had founded the industry consortium TruSolar. Their goal ultimately is to standardize the risk evaluation process for solar energy projects.

    Investing in solar energy projects are not equivalent to investing in a company's stock. While investing in a business comes risks of the company failing; investing in solar energy projects, on the other hand, would be considered a tangible asset. It's an asset that depends on a proven technology using the rays that we know will keep shining upon it. This means the asset is likely to produce revenue immediately and to keep producing it. 

       Last but not least, solar energy projects, in essence, saves money. With the price of solar energy continuing to fall and costs of fossil fuel is rising, solar energy is poised to become a better investment in the long run. It already has outperformed the S&P 500 in 13 states, and major investors are taking note. 

Argentina builds Most Powerful Solar Energy Park in Latin America!

      In the Argentinan province of San Juan, the government has authorized to develop what will be the most powerful solar energy park in Latin America. Already Brazil, Germany, and Spanish companies have been expected to invest in the project, which has an estimated price tag of $120 million, in which the provincial government of San Juan has agreed to invest $15 million to $20 million in the project.
      According to a Spanish news source Cronista, the solar park has been producing between 1500 and 2400 megawatts of energy, making it the biggest single producer of solar energy throughout all South American and Latin American countries.
       There is a landmark in Argentina that is also remarkable to many tourists; it is known as the Bueno Aires landmark, the solar-powered Floralis Generica. This landmark is a large metallic sculpture that opens its petals with the sun at morning and closes them at night. For a country that has not exploited its solar power potential to any great extent, it seems there is a promising future in terms of renewable energy for Argentina.

A Bueno Aires landmark, the solar-powered Floralis Generica

Investments towards renewable energy

      European investors in the next five years are withdrawing their finances from the construction of facilities generating fossil fuels and inserting them into better use: development of renewable energy sources, known as the RES. These claims were made from representatives from gas companies surved by the British-based Gas Strategies Group at the European Autumn Gas Conference, known as EAGC 2012.
        According to this survey, it was claimed that 42% of gas industry representatives believed that the whole share of investments would go to the wind power sector, 28% believed it would be towards the solar power industry, 13% thought it to be the coal-fired industry,  11% to the gas industry and 7% to the nuclear power industry.
       From last year, it seemed that opinions have indeed changed dramatically: support of solar energy has grew from 4% to 28%, coal-fired industry has grew from 2% to 13%, nuclear energy from 5% to 7%, wind power sector from 52% to 42%, and lastly but not least the gas industry from 37% to 11%.
       There have been reports in the Bloomberg New Energy Finance, that global investment in renewable energy development in 2012 was $268.7 billion, whereas there was $142 billion in investments towards solar power energy as well as the remaining $78.3 billion in the wind power sector.

      Ukraine has also been increasing their involvement in renewable energy. At the beginning of this new year, the total number of companies operating power plants, derived from renewable energy sources has increased to 80, and the number of the power plants has increased to 133, in which 39 are used for solar power energy.
     Ukraine actually has what is known to be the largest power plant in Europe.

Once construction is completed in 2015, this solar power farm is said to be equivalent to 207 football fields. It is expected to produce 100,000 megawatt-hours of electricity per year, meaning it can be enough to power 20,000 average-sized households.
Even today, Ukraine ranks 12th in energy rankings with installed renewable energy capacity of 54 GW.

Solar distribution cuts down school's energy costs

The Murrieta Valley Unified School District, located in Southern California, has been reported to be saving approximately $23 million in electricity cost for the next two decades. Their solar panels, which they had invested in, is providing them with a total of 2.3 megawatts in the midst of the 19 school districts "Solarcity" had distributed. The schools has been mounted with 10,000 PV panels atop of parking lot carports. The project has been expected to cut down $1 million per year in electricity costs for the first five years bringing them the desire to enhance academic excellence towards their students.

Murrieta Valley Unified Assistant Superintendent Bill Olien- "As these solar projects demonstrate, we want to continue to save money while doing our part for our environment."