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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• AQT tweaks hard-drive machinery for cheaper solar (news.cnet.com)
• Cambrios Technologies Selects Ascent Solar as PV Partner for Department of Defense Flexible Solar Cell Army Natick Contract (eon.businesswire.com)
• Breakthrough: IBM Makes a Solar Cell Out of Inexpensive “Earth Abundant” Materials (treehugger.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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• KDN’s Solar Energy (timbuktuchronicles.blogspot.com)

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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• Mini City Unveiled by Chicago Architecture Foundation (chicagoist.com)

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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• Arizona Solar Power Conference Demonstrates How Business Parks, Shopping Centers, Warehouses and Multiple Dwelling Housing Units Can Supplement Electr (ecofriendlymag.com)
• Starwood, APS partner to build Arizona solar power plant (lightbulbs.org)
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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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Big reasons why preparation and conversion to alternative energy is imperative.

Global slowdown has forced oil companies to cancel production investments

Inhabitat » Iceland’s Gorgeous Passive Solar Hof House.

If only these dinosaurs  in the councils and local authorities around the world would start being more creative with planning permission.

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On one hand they provide a fantastic product but on the other hand it is too expensive to manufacture in Massachusetts, US.  They are considering outsourcing their manufacturing elsewhere.  Maybe this is a good company for the United States Government to invest in.  It is a win win because the US keeps jobs, invests in renewables and the $$ doesn’t flow away from the central investment.  Maybe Saudi Arabia or China will invest in them?  US loses again.