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A third, much faster coronal mass ejection (CME) is expected to catch up with the two observed on 18 and 19 June bringing them all to Earth in close succession by the UTC day of 22 June 2015. The CME was associated with an R1-Minor flare event observed at 0142 UTC (9:21 pm ET) from Sunspot Region 12371 located near center disk. A G3-Strong Geomagnetic Storm Watch has been issued for 22 June as well as a G2-Moderate Watch for 23 June as the CMEs make their way past Earth. These Watches supersede all prior forecasts. Stay tuned to...

Now the Spanish government is planning to tax homes that produce their own energy through solar power and store some of it using batteries. El País reports: <> A draft decree prepared by the Industry, Energy and Tourism Ministry establishes a new fee to discourage the use of batteries or other storage systems by people who produce electricity, with solar or photovoltaic panels for instance, and who are connected to the national power grid. This latest royal decree follows on the heels of an earlier one announced in 2013 that levied a tax solely on those who generate their own...

New Hampshire utility ratepayers will pay a Taiwanese company $1.22 million to build the state’s largest solar installation so that a small town can save about $500,000 in power costs over the life of the project. Taiwan’s Walsin Lihwa, parent company of Borrego Solar, will use Chinese-made solar panels in the 3.5-acre project, which is supposed to be finished in July. It will supply power to several municipal buildings in the area but only some of the time: the town of Peterborough (population: 6,284) gets only 197 sunny days per year. “What a great project,” deadpanned David Kreutzer, a senior...

One of the largest companies to manufacture solar panels in the United States uses a surprising resource to keep costs low and compete against producers from China: prison labor. Suniva Inc, a Georgia-based solar cell and panel maker that is backed by Goldman Sachs Group Inc, farms out a small portion of its manufacturing to federal inmates as part of a longstanding government program intended to prepare them for life after prison. Suniva does not actively publicize its work with the prisons, saying it prefers to talk about its in-house factories in Georgia and Michigan, which handle most of its...

State regulators approved Minnesota's first industrial-scale solar energy project Thursday, a mammoth 21-site setup that will dot the Twin Cities exurbs and beyond with acres of solar panels. The unanimous vote by the Public Utilities Commission advances the ramp-up phase of large-scale solar energy in Minnesota, with this single $250 million project promising up to 100 megawatts of power by 2016. Currently, fewer than 15 megawatts of solar power are estimated to be generated in Minnesota -- so the swift addition of 100 megawatts would represent more than a six-fold increase, with other huge projects on deck. The project is...

Saudi Arabia solar power exports ‘absolutely realistic’ Last updated on 28 May 2015, 4:47 pm Desert state has abundance of sunshine and could produce more than it consumes, says power company boss(Pic: Activ Solar/Flickr) By Ed KingHopes that Saudi Arabia, the world’s top crude oil producer, could soon become a top solar energy exporter are well founded, according the head of one of the country’s leading power firms.“Saudi could be a solar exporter – I think it’s absolutely realistic and it’s going to happen,” said Paddy Padmanathan, CEO of ACWA Power, which runs a portfolio of solar, coal, gas...

The woes of China’s solar industry deepened in recent days as one panel manufacturer lost nearly half its market capitalization and another said it might be forced to close down. Shares in Hanergy Thin Film Power Group Ltd. , whose meteoric rise had troubled industry watchers, nearly halved in value Wednesday before trading was halted. The 47% plunge, to 3.91 Hong Kong dollars (50 U.S. cents), wiped US$18.6 billion from Hanergy’s market capitalization. The company declined to comment on the fall—which came during its annual shareholders’ meeting in Hong Kong—but said it would make an announcement later in the day.

Most people buy rooftop solar panels because they think it will save them money or make them green, or both. But the truth is that rooftop solar shouldn’t be saving them money (though it often does), and it almost certainly isn’t green. In fact, the rooftop-solar craze is wasting billions of dollars a year that could be spent on greener initiatives. It also is hindering the growth of much more cost-effective renewable sources of power. According to a recent Energy Department-backed study at North Carolina State University, installing a fully financed, average-size rooftop solar system will reduce energy costs for...

The green energy movement in America is dead. May it rest in peace. No, a majority of American energy over the next 20 years is not going to come from windmills and solar panels. One important lesson to be learned from the green energy fad’s rapid and expensive demise is that central planning doesn’t work. What crushed green energy was the boom in shale oil and gas along with the steep decline in the price of fossil fuel that few saw coming just a few years ago. A new International Energy Agency report concedes that green energy is in fast...

The solar energy industry may prove to be a dark horse in the race to provide global energy security. The world has renewed its interest in solar energy investment as it searches for a cleaner and more sustainable alternative to conventional fossil fuels. Countries like China, Germany, the UK, the US, Japan and Canada have already made significant investments in solar power. Who are the other players who are investing big in solar energy? With its own set of limitations such as high installation costs and high plug-in time, are consumers across the world ready to choose solar energy to...

Look what’s cooking in the world of renewable energy The solar and wind innovations that got us where we are today — and those waiting in the wings — point to a hopeful future. Photo courtesy of 1366 Technologies Writer Phil McKenna@mckennapr Freelance writerShareTweet Facebook Share on Google+ Linkedin   April 6, 2015 — Inside a sprawling single-story office building in Bedford, Mass., in a secret room known as the Growth Hall, the future of solar power is cooking at more than 2,500 °F. Behind closed doors and downturned blinds, custom-built ovens with ambitious names like “Fearless” and “Intrepid”...

One can’t help but be impressed by the seemingly great strides solar energy has been making of late. Bullish reports abound of added capacity, aggressive expansion, technical advances and a solar jobs boom. Industry elites engage in bold financial maneuvers that would make Gordon Gekko proud. But don dark enough shades to see through the media-generated glare, and the picture looks less sunny -- and sometimes maybe a little shady. The boom -- some might even call it a “bubble” -- America’s solar energy industry is enjoying stems neither from overwhelming competitive-market success nor from long-promised technological breakthroughs that finally...

The proliferation of renewable energy will never please environmentalists. In fact, the more efficient and inexpensive energies like solar and wind become, the more environmentalists will fear and eventually hate them.Currently, arguments against renewable energy are based on the accurate claim they are too inefficient to become widespread. The technology behind solar and wind power are just not where they need to be to justify widespread use. In October 2014, data revealed the massive Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System in the Mojave Desert fell well short of its anticipated output. During an eight-month period in 2013, the solar plant...

JACKSON, N.J. (AP) — A theme park plans to cut down more than 18,000 trees for the construction of what it says will be the largest solar farm in New Jersey. Six Flags Great Adventure says the facility will generate 21.9 megawatts, or enough to power about 3,100 homes, and capable of meeting all of the park's needs.

JACKSON, N.J. (AP) - A theme park plans to cut down more than 18,000 trees for the construction of what it says will be the largest solar farm in New Jersey. Park President John Fitzgerald said in a statement that solar power will significantly reduce the park's reliance on fossil fuels.

A severe solar storm smacked Earth with a surprisingly big geomagnetic jolt Tuesday, potentially affecting power grids and GPS tracking while pushing the colorful northern lights farther south, federal forecasters said. So far no damage has been reported. Two blasts of magnetic plasma left the sun on Sunday, combined and arrived on Earth about 15 hours earlier and much stronger than expected, said Thomas Berger, director of the Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colorado. This storm ranks a 4, called severe, on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's 1-to-5 scale for geomagnetic effects. It is the strongest solar storm...

Germany currently stands at the forefront of solar energy technology, representing a whopping quarter of all solar energy capacity installed worldwide. Germany now relies of solar power for almost 7% of its annual electricity production, and during the sunniest hours, has used solar panels to satisfy up to 50% of the country’s power demand. ... Examining data from 5,000 solar-powered homes in the western United States, Opower found that during the eclipse those homes sent 41% less electricity back to the grid than normal. Along with a nearly 1,000 megawatt decline in utility-scale solar power production, these drop-offs were compensated...

Corporate donors to a green energy nonprofit operated by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid’s (D., Nev.) former staffers and a current campaign operative have received billions of dollars in federal loan guarantees and grant money as a result of Reid’s advocacy. Fulcrum Bioenergy began contributing to the Clean Energy Project (CEP) in 2013. One year later, the Nevada Democrat steered tens of millions of dollars in federal grant money to the California biofuel company. Fulcrum is one of at least nine corporate donors to the Clean Energy Project (CEP) that have secured federal financing for themselves or a client due...

The Maunder Minimum (also known as the prolonged sunspot minimum) is the name used for the period roughly spanning 1645 to 1715 when sunspots became exceedingly rare, as noted by solar observers of the time. Like the Dalton Minimum and Spörer Minimum, the Maunder Minimum coincided with a period of lower-than-average global temperatures. During one 30-year period within the Maunder Minimum, astronomers observed only about 50 sunspots, as opposed to a more typical 40,000-50,000 spots. (Source) Climatologist John Casey, a former space shuttle engineer and NASA consultant, thinks that last year’s winter, described by USA Today as “one of...