China Wins Deal of One of World's Largest Solar Power Plant in the U.S.

        Trina Solar Unlimited, one of the world's leading PV companies founded in 1997, had announced today that it will supply 1.1 million photovoltaic panels for a 250-megawatt power plant to be built in the Nevada Desert. It will not only be one of the world's largest photovoltaic power stations but it will also be the largest in the U.S. to use Chinese-made solar panels.
        While Chinese companies have attained control of most of the U.S. residential market, utilities and developers of solar power plants have actually favored U.S. companies such as First Solar and SunPower. However, this favoritism is drastically changing. In November, another Chinese solar manufacturer Yingli, won a contract to provide panels for a 200-megawatt power plant under construction in the California desert outside of San Diego.
         As the Chinese market is advancing, Trina Solar and Yingli are emerging as China's top competitors in the power plant industry. Thus, Trina and Yingli have taken measures to ensure distance from other Chinese manufacturers, whom are faced extreme pressure to cut costs as they struggle with billions of dollars in debt, and emphasize the quality of their products.

Solar Panels Helps Cool Buildings (like Trees)!

         Usually, trees provide us shade for buildings, whereas we are kept cooler than in if it were to be fully exposed by the sun. However, these days, solar panels, when mounted onto the rooftops of buildings, are able to also provide us comfort and shade (along with generating clean electricity). 

          Researchers at the University of San Diego took a closer look at the solar panels' cooling effect to see how big the effect is and what kind of panel orientation can reap the most benefits." They note that "Using thermal imaging, researchers determined that during the day, a building's ceiling was 5 degrees Fahrenheit cooler under solar panels than under an exposed roof."

LivingSocial's Glow-in-the-Dark Dance Party - Profit Donated to Solar Lanterns in Somalia

     

         Hosted in a various number of places in the U.S., LivingSocial is hosting a glow-in-the-dark party to communities for a cause. Such places include Chicago, Illinois; Atlanta, Georgia; New York City; Denver, Colorado; Washington, D.C., San Francisco, California; Seattle; San Diego, California; Philadelphia and Los Angeles. Not only are you qualified for the glow-in-the-dark party but you would also be allowed admission for an after-party. If this doesn't interest you, maybe this will: portions of the profit would be donations for solar lanterns to children in Somalia. So, enjoy this special event for if you're having fun, you'll be helping another country in taking another step towards solar energy! 

For more details, click LivingSocial 5K Dance Party.

Closer Details of Mosaic's Crowdfunding Projects

       Mosaic, a solar crowdfunding service, had announced on Monday that it had received permission from California securities regulators to offer $100 million in new investment opportunities in the state. Therefore, on Tuesday, the first of the projects Mosaic had to offer, which was a 114-kilowatt array on the roof of the Ronald McDonald House in San Diego, was quickly fully subscribed. It only took Californians simply 6 hours to invest $157,750 in the project, which happened to offer a 4.5% annual return.

2012 Mosaic-financed project in Oakland

"The future is distributed clean energy, funded by the people. These are investments in infrastructure and they offer competitive returns," Mosaic President and Founder Billy Parish said. "More projects will be coming online soon."
        The public is already prepared for such projects to be offered for Mosaic had originally launched in January with four projects totaling to an amount of $313,000 and had sold out in less than 24 hours. More than 400 investors had invested between the amounts of $25 and $30,000, with the average investment being approximately $700.
        Solar financing in the United States is said to be held mainly in the province of Wall Street, with the likes of big corporations as Citi, Credit Suisse and U.S. Bancorp reaping the returns from the steadily growing industry. By Mosaic existing, it is trying to overturn the way things are (especially the way solar financing is done) at a very small scale to start.
        However, questions are arising as to whether crowdfunding solar might put inexperienced investors at risk. A recent analysis by Rocky Mountain Institute consultant Jessie Morris largely put those fears to rest, while recognizing that returns never came without risks. Not only this but Mosaic has moved to backing up its claim to offer "high-quality projects" by backing truSolar, an effort to develop standards for rating solar projects by risk. Founding members of truSolar include Mosaic, DuPont, PricewaterhouseCoopers, the Rocky Mountain Institute, Booz Allen Hamilton, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Assurant.

150 MW California Solar Power Plant is Bought!

      The 150-megawatt Solar Generation 2 photovoltaic power plant, located in Imperial County (California), was recently bought by First Solar, Inc. The construction of this solar power plant is planned to start this year and is set to be completed next year. Once completed, the new photovoltaic solar power plant is to produce enough electricity to power more than 60,0000 homes while displacing more than 115,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. This solar power plant will estimably save around 93,000 metric tons of water per year.
      The San Diego Gas and Electric Company (SDG&E) has agreed to purchase the electrical output under a 25-year power purchase agreement. Once this agreement is started, the photovoltaic solar plant is expected to provide over 800 construction jobs within Imperial County, which has been overcome with high unemployment.
       "We are very pleased to help SDG&E meet its clean energy goals and provide clean, reliable, renewable power to their customers," said Dana Diller, First Solar Vice President of U.S. Business Development. "We are also proud to once again bring the economic benefits of utility-scale solar development to Imperial County, where both county officials and the Imperial Irrigation District, with which this plant will interconnect, have been extremely supportive."
        The financial details of the new purchase is still unknown but it does include 40 megawatts of solar modules that the project had previously purchased from another supplier. First Solar, Inc., is actually planning to integrate those modules into construction and make up the difference with their own modules in order to complete the construction of the power plant. In addition, First Solar will be providing project development, engineering, procurement and construction (EPC), and grid integration services.