Solar Energy System is Installed in the U.S. every 4 Minutes

            Many things occur in the United States in a matter of 4 minutes. During that short time span, 30 babies are born, 4,080 Big Macs may be consumed, and 48,000 tons of carbon dioxide are being exhaled. As it also seems, the U.S. is currently installing one solar photovoltaic system every 4 minutes as well. If market growth continues steadily at its current pace, the American solar industry can install a solar system 1 minute and 20 seconds by 2016.
           There has been a drastic difference from 2006, when installers were only putting up one system every 80 minutes. Shayle Kann, Vice President of GTM Research, has conducting a study and produced documents of the accelerating speed of solar deployment in the charts below:

Sharp Develops See-Through Solar Panels

         Sharp Electronics, a United States subsidiary of an Osaka-based Sharp Corporation and a company known for manufacturing a wide range of consumer and business products, has announced the development of see-through solar panels that offers many benefits over the standard solar panel. The semi-transparent solar panel is designed to be used in balcony railings or as windows in tall buildings, where it can generate energy while also letting light in. The glass, while see-through up close, creates a privacy screen from farther away, acts as a heat shield and is aesthetically pleasing to the eye as well.
        According to CNET, the solar panel "delivers a solar power conversion efficiency of about 6.8-percent with a maximum output of 95 watts." This is quite a bit lower than standard solar panels that typically may have conversion efficiencies of 15 to 20 percent, but then again, standard solar panels can't act as windows.
       Even with a lower efficiency level, the see-through solar panels are generating energy in parts of a building that would typically consist of ordinary glass or metal, so they're still increasing the potential renewable energy generation of a building by a significant amount.
      The panels are also constructed with laminated glass that has been infused with photovoltaic solar cells and are 4.5-feet wide by 3.2-feet tall and only 0.3 inches thick. They will go on sale in Japan on October 1, but so far, no pricing or plans for a release in the United States has been revealed as of yet.

China Increases Taxes on Solar Panels

Monitoring a solar panel in the production line at a factory in Zhejiang province in China

         China's Minister of Commerce had announced on Thursday that China plans to impose tax tariffs that could exceed 50% on materials imported from the United States and South Korea to make solar panels due to the tension lingering with the West over a trade dispute. This decision, which is to go in effect next week, would be a catastrophe to the American industry for China is supposedly their largest customer for solar-grade poly-silicon, the main ingredient needed for making solar panels. 

         China dominates the world market in terms of solar panel production, exporting approximately $30 billion a year in panel shipments to the West while it imports a large number of poly-silicon from the United States, Europe and Korea. Its decision to heavily tax the United States but levy lower rates on some Korean producers and leave Europe out is widely seen as a retaliation act for the previous trade incidents occurring between the United States and China. 

         Last Fall, the United States had put tax tariffs (of about 24-36%) on Chinese imports after finding out that Chinese companies were benefitting from unfair government subsidies and selling their products below the cost of production. A spokeswoman for Michael Froman, the United States trade representative, had responded that they were in discussions with China related to global issues in solar technology and that this step did not move the ball forward, but "we will continue to engage." 

         Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, and Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources notes that "China is slapping tariffs on poly-silicon because it is unhappy that the United States exercised its legal rights and stood up for our remaining solar manufacturers. I am confident that these retaliatory tariffs will be shown to be without merit."

Solar Impulse: Last Trip from Washington, D.C., to New York

            The ultimate goal for Solar Impulse was to fly across the globe powered solely upon the sun's rays. So far, it has accomplished many goals in the last three years: in 2010, it flew for 26 hours straight; in 2011, it flew from Belgium to Paris, France and in 2012, a prototype had completed the first intercontinental flight connecting from Europe to Africa. This year, it proposed a challenge to fly across United States from the East coast to the West. 

The itinerary featured: from San Francisco (California) to Phoenix (Arizona) to Dallas (Texas) to St. Louis (Missouri) ending in the last haul to Washington, D.C., and New York

The fourth leg from St. Louis to Washington, D.C., has been completed successfully while the trip from Washington D.C., to New York is steadily approaching. You can view updates and the schedule for the rest of the historic flight here.

There are also many videos of their stops featured here.

Solar powered three wheeler called the "Elf"

Rob cotter founder and CEO of Organic Transit in Durham, North Carolina, developed something extraordinary that couldn't be characterized as a bike but is indeed operated as one. It's called the "Elf", this three wheeler is equipped with a solar powered motor that can be switched on anytime when the operator is exhausted from pedalling. Elf is categorized as a bicycle and doesn't require an insurance and registration to ride in the United States. The solar panel is found across the roof from the front to the end of the bike and only needs 7 hours of charging in the sun or could also be plugged into an outlet for less time consumption. The Elf can be well acknowledge to commuter who has to go to work in the morning using the powered motor and pedal back home from work for a good workout. The Elf should weigh about 100 pounds including the solar panel, motor, and battery; it also has a top speed of 20 mph considering the weight of the production model. The Organic Transit had raised enough funds to produce 100 models up for purchase from the Kickstarter Campaign.

Walmart in Ohio is now powered by solar!

Walmart has announced that it has worked with SolarCity on progressing towards 12 Walmart stores & Sam's Clubs all over Ohio with installing solar panels that generates up to 6,000,000 kWh of energy, enough to power more than 820 homes and is also apprehended to accumulate about 5-20% of each store's energy consumption. Walmart has committed to increasing the use of renewable energy on all the stores in Ohio and across the country. Pretty effective knowing almost all Walmart stores are open 24 hours and finally being able to say bye bye to those outrageous electric bills.

"Walmart's installation of solar on 12 store rooftops is the largest solar commitment ever made by a retail business in Ohio," said Bill Spratley

Taiwan with their National Stadium "solarized"?

I know rooftops with solar panels may not be something new but seeing Taiwan's stadium, hosting many world games and powered only by the sun to no fewer than 8,844 solar panels, is a whole new level than many commercial buildings currently residing in the United States. Total funds that were put into the stadium was approximately $152 million dollars. Early reports say that the stadium can cover 75% of the energy consumption and on days that are sidelined, the power would be fed on the grid to power local communities with sustainable energy. So whose ready for some baseball?