Free Republic

FORT HUACHUCA — A groundbreaking ceremony for a $40 million, 65,000 solar panel array, which will be the largest at any Department of Defense military installation, took place on this southern Arizona Army post Friday morning. Assistant Secretary of the Army, Katherine Hammack, said it is appropriate the event took place during the week of Earth Day, in effect making Friday a green letter day because of the fort’s special Renewable Energy Project. For Maj. Gen. Robert Ashley the electric-generating project is more than a way to save the Army money — the estimated annual electric bill for the fort...

The federal government is making another big bet on solar panel manufacturing with taxpayer money, hoping the third time will be the charm. SoloPower held its grand opening Thursday in Portland, Ore., with speeches from local politicians and a ribbon-cutting. "It really revolutionizes rooftop applications, and it makes solar both easy and cost effective for nearly any commercial and industrial building worldwide," CEO Tim Harris said. SoloPower closed on a guaranteed government loan of $197 million last August, about the time another solar panel manufacturer, Solyndra, filed for bankruptcy. The failure of Solyndra cost U.S. taxpayers more than a half-billion...

Investing in solar and alternative energy stocks comes with many risks. We have often referred to many of these as being essentially nothing more than very leveraged speculative oil investments because when energy prices are low most of these are not competitive at all on a cost structure. The drop of $2.62 per barrel to $66.93 in NYMEX WTI Crude is causing havoc in some of the mid-cap and speculative oils stocks. It is also hitting shares of First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR), Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NYSE: STP), SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWRA), LDK Solar Co.Ltd. (NYSE: LDK), and...

DENVER — Even as an aide hinted that another stimulus bill might be needed, President Barack Obama on Tuesday signed into law the $787 billion package that is a cornerstone of his plan to reverse a dramatic economic downturn. The stimulus is one of several White House steps meant to preserve or create about 3.5 million jobs and ease the recession.

* The economy is by far the No. 1 issue on most Americans' minds. Gas prices are a close second. The two issues are intimately related. But the spike in oil prices this year is just the tip of the iceberg. Due to similar developments in supply and demand, electricity prices are set to skyrocket next year. While American oil consumption has grown only 15% since 1973, electricity use has shot up 115%. Right now the U.S. has 760 gigawatts of power to meet consumption. We will need 135 gigawatts of new capacity over the next decade to keep the...