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Dow Chemical has been working on the DOW POWERHOUSE Solar Shingles for a couple years now, and has recently announced plans to expand its manufacturing capability after a succesful pilot run.

What is significant about these new shingles is that they do not require specialist solar installation firms but rather can be installed by general roofing conractors or homeowners themselves.

The plant will also create 1275 new direct jobs and increase capacity to 220 MW annually.

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Solar tuk-tuks to ease smog in congested Bangkok.

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http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/energy/solar-cell.htm

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Advance made in thin-film solar cell technology.

A cheaper safer adn faster method of producing the technology brings us one step close to universal take-up of the technology.

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• Cambrios Technologies Selects Ascent Solar as PV Partner for Department of Defense Flexible Solar Cell Army Natick Contract (eon.businesswire.com)
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Japan Wants to Power 300,000 Homes With Wireless Energy From Space | Popular Science. Sending a microwave beam down from a satellite, the project will kick off in 2015 and take 30 years to complete. Enough time to figure out how not to fly a plane through the beam, or to keep it on target to the receiver.

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VOA News – Kenyans Welcome First Solar-Powered Phone in Africa. With energy both difficult to find and expensive, these new devices launched by Safaricom in Kenya allow for charging a phone anywhere. I could use that her in the UK.

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When the military starts doing something like this, then it will probably become more prevalent in civilian sectors.

Army Starts Solar Plant; Next Step: Care About Climate Change | Danger Room | Wired.com.

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PLans to reduce electricity consumption by 80% include wind turbines, new roofs, and solar.

Sears Tower to undergo $350M green remodel – Yahoo! News.

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A hefty 4.5 megawatt will be generated by an array of solar panels to provide a Phoenix data center with a portion of its 80 megawatt demand. And even more interesting is its time shifting capability to save the company 50% of its energy bill by using onsite thermal storage.

Will Your Next Data Center Be Solar Powered? | Inside Green IT on GreenerComputing.

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PG&E strikes huge solar power deal with BrightSource – San Jose Mercury News. Pacific Gas & Electric now has 2,610 megawatts, more than 40% of large scale solar thermal in the U.S.

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• Eye Openers: What’s hot around the Bay – San Jose Mercury News (netnewmusic.net)
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