Solar happenings

[vfx]

I am so gullible. This kind of reporting makes me giddy and optimistic.

15 Photovoltaics Solar Power Innovations You Must See : TreeHugger

[doug]

And now some not so good solar happenings:

Thieves Are Stealing Solar Panels and Selling them - NYTimes.com

The panels were disassembled expertly, he said, leading him to suspect that someone in the solar industry had done it. He urges clients to install video cameras and alarms for their solar arrays, and likens his own revamped security system to Fort Knox.
“This is the crime of the future,” Mr. McCalmont said.

[vfx]

Yeah I put that on Martin's Solar panel page (!)

[dpeilow]

World's Largest Roll-to-Roll Thin Film Solar Manufacturing Facility Opens

[doug]

Read this yesterday in the Cronicle:

California company has new approach to solar

The next wave of solar power technology may be a skinny glass tube that looks like a fluorescent light bulb painted black.
...
Solyndra Chief Executive Officer Chris Gronet said he got the idea after noticing just how much room traditional solar panels squander. Rows of standard solar panels perched on a flat roof have to sit several feet apart so they don't cast shadows on each other. Lay solar cylinders flat, however, and you can blanket the entire roof.
"Look at the picture long enough, and you're going to realize there's a lot of wasted space, and a cylinder might work better," said Gronet.

[graham]

fascinating! I wonder how efficient they are and how much power they generate per square foot of rooftop compared to an array of tilt-up solar panels?

[vfx]

World's Largest Roll-to-Roll Thin Film Solar Manufacturing Facility Opens

Solar Daily is a pretty good site. Thanks.

[Sgee]

If u like solar daily you should try this for nearly all of the alternative energy projects going on right now.
Renewable Energy Development

[dpeilow]

Solar Daily is a pretty good site. Thanks.

You're welcome.

[TEG]

So I saw this: Solar Power For $2 A Day



It got me thinking, I have two types of things mounted on my roof pointed at the southern sky - solar panels & satellite dishes.
Why not combine them. How about the "green dish" option from DirecTV and DishNetwork? When your dish gets mounted you ask for the green option and they give you a dish with a small solar panel integrated in. They are already mounting it and pointing it towards the southern sky, and running cables back into your house. The satellite box inside could have a small inverter built in and just send a bit of power back down the line during the day.