Sweet Solar Home

Technology, rebates, and cost oh my! For homeowners, there's a lot to consider when installing a home solar power system and switching to solar electricity. That's why we made Sweet Solar Home: to address important questions, help clarify misconceptions, and provide the resources to make your solar experience affordable, smooth, and easy. We're in your corner in the fight against rising energy costs.
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The Rise & Shine is your daily source for all solar-industry news. Brought to you by Sweet Solar Home and the Experts at SunRun.

CALIFORNIA NEWS

SunPower Completes Solar Photovoltaic Installation in San Jose
SunPower Corp., Helio Micro Utility and the San Jose Tech Museum of Innovation have dedicated a 185 kW solar electric system at the museum - the first commercial system in downtown San Jose.

Homes and Businesses Go Solar with No Upfront Cost
Renewable Funding is now providing a first-in-the-nation financial service allowing property owners to install solar panels and pay for them over 20 years through a line item on their property tax bills.

Berkeley Residents Jump at Chance to go Solar with New Local Program
City officials were hoping that 40 residents would sign up for the program and were astounded when that number was met within the first nine minutes of when the application became available online on Nov. 5. By the time the application window closed Wednesday, 77 residents had applied.

NATIONAL NEWS

Nord/LB Closes Financing on 9MW Solar Project
Nord/LB announced that it closed financing on 9 MW of a combined 19 MW of solar power projects being developed via a joint venture between SunEdison and SkyPower Corp.

DOI, DOE, & NPS to Install Solar Systems
With equal amounts of initial “seed money” from DOI and DOE totaling US $1 million for 2009, the Energy SmartPARKS program hopes to eventually draw private sector support to spark a green energy future in the United States.

Solar Manufacturer Escapes Economic Woes
Welding torches are sparking, power tools are revving and fork lifts are jockeying for space inside Schott Solar’s new manufacturing plant, giving no indication the company has felt any effects of the global economy’s downward spiral.

FINANCIAL NEWS & MARKETS

Suntech Reports Third Quarter 2008 Financial Results
Suntech Power today announced financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2008.

Weak Euro Prompts Suntech to Slash Sales Forecast
The Chinese solar cell and panel maker said the credit crunch has plagued its customers. Suntech shares have fallen more than 92 percent so far this year.

Earnings Soar at Solar Firms
Two China-based makers of solar-power components, LDK Solar Co. and Trina Solar Ltd., reported soaring profits and sales for the third quarter. But while demand is expected to continue increasing for the alternative-energy source, Trina Solar tamped down expectations for the full year.

Sunrise Consulting Group Inc. Prepares to Move Quickly into Huge and Growing Solar Energy Market
Last week the company announced its plans to purchase up to 60% of Sunrise Solartech Co. Ltd.

Phoenix Solar Secures 150M Loan
Phoenix Solar AG has secured the Group’s future growth through a syndicated loan of EUR 150 million. The syndicate is made up of the TecDAX-listed company’s principal banks as well as a new bank.

GOVERNMENT & POLITICS

Clean Energy Confronts Messy Reality
Forging a new energy future by creating vast amounts of wind, solar and, possibly, nuclear energy is one of Mr. Obama’s highest priorities. But enacting that policy depends on the ability of energy companies and utilities to finance the massive new investments that would be needed.

TECHNOLOGY

Fronius International Receives the Prestigious Frost & Sullivan “Best Practices Award 2008”
The Frost & Sullivan Award for Product Quality Leadership is bestowed upon the company that has demonstrated superior quality control over its competitors in product manufacturing.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Sputnik Doubles SolarMax S Production Capacity
Since the beginning of this year, Sputnik Engineering has been selling the new string inverter series SolarMax S. In order to meet the great demand, Sputnik will open a new production facility in Biel, Switzerland next year.

Polysilicon Facilities Start Up at Wacker’s Burghausen Site
Additional polycrystalline-silicon production facilities officially came on stream at Wacker Chemie AG’s Burghausen site yesterday. The first “Expansion Stage 7” reactors are already up and running.

JA Solar and BP to Establish Photovoltaic Alliance
JA Solar and BP Alternative Energy Holdings Limited, a subsidiary of BP today announced their intention to jointly develop and market part of their solar photovoltaic product portfolio over the next five years.

Are you in California and interested in solar for your home? Call us at 877.SUN.MOJO or visit our website to learn more.

We at SunRun are very happy to announce that we have received an initial tax equity commitment from an affiliate of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB) as part of the financing for up to 2,000 residential solar facilities.

We’re pleased that we can continue to provide homeowners a fixed, flat rate for solar electricity, We were the first company to offer a low-cost, service-oriented alternative to homeowners investing in their own solar electricity systems.

We also welcome industry veteran David Buzby, Chairman of SunEdison, to our board of directors.

“It is deeply satisfying to witness a significant shift in the way homeowners purchase solar electricity using the power purchase agreement model, and this recent funding from a financial stalwart such as U.S. Bancorp confirms our industry’s belief in its longevity and success,” said Edward Fenster, CEO of SunRun. “David’s deep experience in the solar energy market is helping us build a company that makes solar a possibility for every homeowner in the country.”

This financing from U.S. Bancorp, the sixth largest commercial bank in the United States and the only one with an AA credit rating from Standard & Poor’s, enables us to develop more residential solar energy projects.

Joining SunRun’s Board of Director’s is Buzby, Chairman of SunEdison, North America’s largest solar energy services provider. SunEdison provides solar-generated energy at or below current utility rates to commercial, municipal and utility customers. Buzby will contribute his industry leadership and work closely with SunRun’s founders to develop similar strategies and enter emerging residential solar markets.

“We built SunEdison from an idea into the global market leader. I see that same potential in SunRun and joined its board to help bring this innovative model into people’s homes across the country,” said Buzby. “SunRun takes the worry out of going solar and makes it as easy as flipping the light switch and getting a lower electricity bill in the mail. It’s that simplicity and reliability that is increasing the demand for residential solar.”

The Rise & Shine is your daily source for all solar-industry news. Brought to you by Sweet Solar Home and the Experts at SunRun.

CALIFORNIA NEWS

SunRun Closes US $105M for Solar Facilities
In a market where project financing is hard to come by, the funding from US Bancorp seems like it’s a recognition that’s PPA’s for residential customers, could be showing some promise.

Gov. Schwarzenegger Looks to Advance California’s Renewable Energy Plans
Governor Schwarzenegger signed Executive Order S-14-08 to streamline CA’s renewable energy project approval process and increase the state’s Renewable Energy Standard to 33% renewable power by 2020.

New Proposal Favors Sunrise Powerlink
California’s utilities commission will consider three recommendations on whether to allow San Diego Electric & Gas to build a 150-mile transmission line. While the project draws stiff opposition from environmentalists, Gov. Schwarzenegger likes it.

NATIONAL NEWS

Wal-Mart Makes Major Commitment to Renewable Energy
The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded North Carolina State University’s Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering a $1.2 million grant to build and study tiny materials that can help generate renewable energy.

Patrick to Unveil Solar Power Plan
The governor of Boston is expected to set a new environmental goal for the state by using rooftop solar installations to improve the energy efficiency of new “big box” stores and other retail developments.

FINANCIAL NEWS & MARKETS

Fighting for the Planet
More governments will follow Spain and Germany and cut subsidies for solar power. The shortage of silicon that has bedevilled the solar-panel industry will ease, only to be replaced by bottlenecks in other areas, such as turning the silicon into wafers and ingots.

TECHNOLOGY

Lumetas Solar Panels Recognized for Superior Design and Innovation
Lumeta has announced that its Solar S Tile was honored as a first round winner in the Green EcoDesign category of the Spark Design Awards 2008 competition.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

ProLogis Builds 1MW Solar PV System In Japan
ProLogis will install a one-megawatt (MW) PV system at ProLogis Parc Zama I, a five-story distribution facility totaling more than 1.2 million square feet.

Conergy Group Completes 3 Megawatt Project
Conergy and its subsidiary EPURON have announced the completion and sale of the Exelon-Conergy Solar Energy Center. The 3 MW project is located on the Waste Management G.R.O.W.S 16.5-acre landfill site just outside of Philadelphia.

Are you in California and interested in solar for your home? Call us at 877.SUN.MOJO or visit our website to learn more.

Everyone’s anxious about the economy; the housing market looks particularly bleak. And even after the immediate troubles are gone, it’ll take awhile for everything to get back on track.

But if you know you’re going to move before the housing market rebounds fully, this could be a great time to put solar on your house.

According to the U.S. DOE’s office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, a home with solar will sell twice as fast as a home without solar – even in depressed markets¹.

This is because of the marketing value home solar has. Because the demand for solar homes is higher than the supply, you’ll sell your home faster. Doesn’t that sound nice?

Lennar Homes and their partner SunPower saw this happen in early 2007:

“For eight [non-solar] communities in the Whitney Ranch residential development in Rocklin, CA, an average of 1.9 homes has sold each month since 2006. A ninth [solar] community, Grupe Homes’ Carsten Crossings, stands out with…an average of 4.6 homes sold per month over the same time period.” ²

A solar home’s value goes up faster too. According to Shea Homes, the value of California homes with solar went up 55% while non-solar homes went up 45% in value during the same time period³.

All 257 homes in one Clarum Homes development sold within a year of being put on the market – 2 years faster than planned. Plus, homes originally priced at $379,000-$499,000 were selling for as much as $600,000.

Get an extra $100,000-$200,000 for your home? Sounds pretty good to me.

In other words, the increase in your home’s resale value can mean that you immediately recoup you’re the cost of going solar!

Both the faster increase in a solar home’s value and the increase in its resale price are a result of the value the solar electricity will bring to the homeowner in the future. In other words, minus any maintenance and repair costs, solar adds value to a home because it means the homeowner will save more and more over time on electricity.

There’s a commonly quoted study by ICF Consulting that puts some numbers to this. The study explains that saving $1 a year on energy costs adds $20 to your home’s value⁴. In other words, saving $1,000 per year increases your home’s value by $20,000.

Even if you’re not moving, solar is one of the smartest things you can do with your money in the current economy. Stay tuned and we’ll tell you more…

1. http://www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/pdfs/43076.pdf
2. http://investors.sunpowercorp.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=246299
3. http://www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/pdfs/43076.pdf
4. http://www.ongrid.net/AppraisalJournalPVValue10.98.pdf

Are you in California and interested in solar for your home? Call us at 877.SUN.MOJO or visit our website to learn more.

The Rise & Shine is your daily source for all solar-industry news. Brought to you by Sweet Solar Home and the Experts at SunRun.

CALIFORNIA NEWS
The North Face Completes 1MW Solar System
The North Face, a supplier of outdoor apparel, has completed construction of a 1-megawatt (MW) solar electricity system at its West Coast distribution center located in Visalia, California.

Sungevity to Sell Solar Software to Other Installers
The Berkeley, Calif.-based company, which has devised an application for estimating the cost of a residential solar install, will let other installers use its system next year for a price.

DWP Citizen Advocacy Committee Says No to Solar Ballot Measure  Here’s Why
The DWP Committee unanimously moved and passed the motion not to endorse the Solar Measure at this time. The Council was asking for a blank check to have DWP’s Union as the exclusive work force.

NATIONAL NEWS
NC State Secures Grant to Make Solar Energy Less Expensive
The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded North Carolina State University’s Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering a $1.2 million grant to build and study tiny materials that can help generate renewable energy.

Firm Wants to Build Solar-Panel Factor in Vineland
On Monday, a group of representatives from Amelio Solar, a Ewing, N.J.-based, developer of solar-energy technology, expressed interest in building a large-scale factory to manufacture solar panels within city limits.

UTILITY INDUSTRY & REGULATORY NEWS
Feed-in Tariffs - Right for Germany, Wrong for California
it is not the only way to develop solar power - or the best way. The biggest problem with high feed-in tariffs is that they result in higher utility bills, because ratepayers pay top dollar for every single kilowatt produced.

New York Power Authority Requests Information for Purchases of Solar Power
The New York Power Authority (NYPA) has issued a formal Request for Information (RFI) in connection with its plans to purchase solar power on behalf of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and its operating agencies.

FINANCIAL NEWS & MARKETS
Desperately Seeking Solar’s Safe Haven
Analyst Christopher Blansett urges investors to make a ‘flight to safety’ - that is companies will have to weather reduced solar subsidies next year, higher solar system borrowing costs and increasing competition at all levels of the solar PV food chain.

SolarWorld Bids 1 Billion Euros for Opel Assets
German solar energy company SolarWorld AG said Wednesday it plans to offer $1-billion for some assets of carmaker Adam Opel GmbH, the German subsidiary of General Motors Corp.

S.A.G. Solarstrom AG Reports Third Quarter 2008 Results
Following its successful re-structuring, Freiburg-based S.A.G. Solarstrom AG says the company was able to boost its operating result to 2.1 Mio. during the first nine months of business year 2008.

ReneSola Announces Third Quarter 2008 Results
Gross profit for the third quarter of 2008 was US$45.8 million, a 19.2% increase sequentially and 190.4% year-over-year. The gross margin for the third quarter of 2008 was 21.2% compared to 22.4% in the second quarter of 2008.

GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
Obama White House to Face Long-Held Consumer Denial and Awareness Hurdles in Realizing Renewable Energy Solutions
As President-Elect Barack Obama prepares to address energy as one of the top issues on the U.S. agenda, his administration will face long-held U.S. consumer denial about personal responsibility in driving energy demand and resulting prices - as well as consumers’ “tailpipe-driven” understanding of energy use and environmental impact.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS
SCHOTT Solar Signs Long-term Contract with Enerpoint S.p.A.
The contract between SCHOTT Solar and Enerpoint covers a steadily increasing supply of polycrystalline silicon modules, expected to represent a total power output of 35 megawatts in coming years. Through this major contract, Enerpoint becomes the official dealer for SCHOTT Solar modules in Italy.

Satcon Announces Three Year 180 Megawatt Agreement with Samsung
In addition to supplying Samsung with Satcon PowerGate(tm) Plus inverters for its own solar power plant development around the globe, this agreement provides Samsung the exclusive right to market and sell Satcon solutions in the rapidly growing Korean renewable energy market.

Are you in California and interested in solar for your home? Call us at 877.SUN.MOJO or visit our website to learn more.

The Rise & Shine is your daily source for all solar-industry news. Brought to you by Sweet Solar Home and the Experts at SunRun.

NATIONAL NEWS

The Solar Center Starts Installation of 96 kilowatt Solar Electric System
The Solar Center is commencing installation of a 96 kilowatt solar system for IDA-International of Derby, Connecticut, its largest solar installation to date in that state.

UTILITY INDUSTRY & REGULATORY NEWS

California Seeks One Third Renewable Power by 2020
California committed to getting a third of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020 in a Monday executive order by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

FINANCIAL NEWS & MARKETS

MEMC Provides Fourth Quarter Financial Update
MEMC now anticipates revenue for the 2008 fourth quarter to be approximately $500 million, plus or minus $25 million, with gross margin of approximately 48%, plus or minus two percentage points, and operating expenses of approximately $27 million.

GOVERNMENT & POLITICS

Federal ITC Changes to Affect Local Incentives
In response, state and local PV incentive programs are currently trying to decide whether or by how much to reduce their incentive levels in response to this additional value provided by the federal government.

TECHNOLOGY

New Documentary Sheds Light On Space Based Solar Power
Space-based solar power- the concept of collecting high-intensity solar energy in space, beaming it to Earth, and feeding it into existing power grids - is getting a closer look.

New Research Makes Photovoltaics More Efficient
University of Chicago scientists have induced electrons in the nanocrystals of semiconductors to cool more slowly by forcing them into a smaller volume.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Foresight’s Solar Fund to Invest in Italian and Greek PV Projects
Foresight is looking to take advantage of the long term government backed incentives, in the form of feed-in tariffs, and asset-backed projects using established technologies, to build a dedicated portfolio of projects in this fast growing renewable energy sector.

BP Solar to Close Cell Manufacturing Plant in Australia
The decision comes because the company is looking to focus its operations at larger scale plants in lowest cost manufacturing countries, in order to drive down the cost of solar power for consumers.

France Sets Plan to Double Green Share of Electricity Market
Solar will spearhead the challenge to give renewables a 23-percent share of the electricity mix by 2020, compared with 10.3 percent in 2005.

Are you in California and interested in solar for your home? Call us at 877.SUN.MOJO or visit our website to learn more.

If you’re like me, laundry is a pretty exhausting chore. Finding laundry detergent can be even more so. I love making small steps to help the environment so when I saw Ecos Laundry Detergent at Sam’s Club, I decided to give it a try. I was slightly dubious if it could actually clean my clothes, but I was eager to give it a try.

What immediately caught my eye was the price. Many green choices are more costly, but for only a couple dollars more than other brands I could get an environmentally safe product. Plus, being ultra-concentrated I got more washes per bottle, which wound up saving more money.

What makes Ecos environmentally friendly?

• Contains soy-based fabric softener
• Non-polluting/100% biodegradable/non-toxic/natural.
• Free of enzymes, phosphates, chlorine, and petroleum ingredients
• Made of replenishable/sustainable ingredients
• Plant-based surfactants used do not harm the item being cleaned, your body or the environment
• Pleasantly scented with pure, natural, essential oils of magnolias and lilies
• Ultra-concentrated which means less plastic that needs to be produced.

I don’t like heavy scented soaps, but I also prefer a clean scent. It’s often hard to find a balance between the two extremes. Before I bought Ecos I had to buy a fragrance-free laundry detergent, so I missed the clean clothes smell. I was happy that Ecos has a surprisingly light and refreshing scent both in it’s liquid form and the scent it leaves on clean clothes.

The laundry soap cleaned my clothes great, both my whites and colors came out nicely! Since I was missing my fabric sheets, I ran my clothes through my dryer without them. I was extremely surprised when I pulled the clothes out and there was no static!

I highly recommend Eco’s laundry soap if you want a product that not only gets your clothes clean, but helps you feel better about your laundry!

For more information on buying environmentally-friendly cleaning products check out ConsumerReports.org.

Are you in California and interested in solar for your home? Call us at 877.SUN.MOJO or visit our website to learn more.

The Rise & Shine is your daily source for all solar-industry news. Brought to you by Sweet Solar Home and the Experts at SunRun.

CALIFORNIA NEWS
Hey, Your Shade Trees Are Blocking My Solar Array
State rules that take effect Jan. 1 aim to avoid another solar scandal. Violations of the Solar Shade Control Act will have to be enforced in civil court. And trees and shrubs planted before someone installs solar panels will never have to face the ax.

City Hall Flips Switch on New Green Roof
As part of its goal to become the first “green” silver-accredited civic center in Southern California, the Encinitas Civic Center has a new “cool” roof.

Real Goods Solar Adds Two Companies to Growing Portfolio
Real Goods Solar CEO John Schaeffer will become president and remain in Hopland. Tom McCalmont, founder and CEO of Regrid, will become CEO of Real Goods Solar, which will be headquartered in Campbell.

Going Green Could Put California Deeper in the Red
Reaching 33% renewables by 2020, the CPUC said, would require 70,000 GWh of new renewable energy in 2020, tripling current production, and seven new major transmission lines to carry power. And, the PUC said, “such a target may require a state investment of about $60 billion in generation and transmission from 2010 to 2020.”

Solyndra Signs Long-Terms Sales Contract With Carlisle Energy Services
The multi-year sales contract adds to Solyndra’s order backlog. The solar panels for these contracts will be manufactured at Solyndra’s facilities in Fremont and Milpitas, CA.

NATIONAL NEWS
Consumers as Producers
When homeowners supply more solar energy than they need, they want to be paid for it. Not so fast, critics say.

NREL & solar Industry Start Nationwide Measuring Network
The information will be incorporated into technical analyses that will help to minimize some of the risk associated with the launch of commercial solar energy conversion projects, including concentrated solar power plants.

Oncor Electric Delivery to Offer Rebates for Solar
Oncor - a regulated electric distribution and transmission business in TX - will promote solar power to its customers by offering incentives - $2.46/watt - to install solar panels that produce electricity.

$3M Solar and Wind Powered Billboard for Times Square
Times Square will soon get the first ecofriendly billboard that is completely powered by the sun and the wind.

Crews Installing Solar Panels at State Capitol
10kW in solar panels are being installed at the Colorado Capitol in a project that is expected to pay for itself in energy savings.

FINANCIAL NEWS & MARKETS
NanoMas Pulls in Big Name Investor for Nano Ink
BASF’s venture capital arm led a $3.2 million round of funding, contributing $1.5 million and BASF said the investment strengthens its development work in nanotechnology and printed electronics.

MARKETS & MARKET RESEARCH
“Consumers and Climate Challenge,” Points to Immense Challenge Ahead for President Obama
Consumers agree on the definition of climate change, the importance of reducing climate change and the role of the individual to reduce climate change. Differences emerge on specific actions to be taken, questions of cost allocation and the role of government.

GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
Environmental Conference Will Target Regional Governors From Around the World
The eyes of the world may be on President-elect Barack Obama, but when it comes to the issue of climate change, Arnold Schwarzenegger is muscling his way into the international spotlight.

TECHNOLOGY
New Nano Coating Boosts Solar Efficiency
Researchers have developed a new anti-reflective coating that boosts the efficiency of solar panels and allows sunlight to be absorbed from almost any angle.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS
LDK Signs Wafer Supply Deal with BP Solar
Under the terms of the deal, LDK Solar will deliver approximately 435 megawatts (MW) of multicrystalline silicon solar wafers over starting in 2009 and extending through 2011.

Marburg Solar Collectors Statute Heats Up Feelings
Introducing a statute requiring solar collectors on roofs, the city of Marburg wanted to set an example for municipal climate protection. Yet the showcase project of the Red-Green city government has met with considerable resistance.

ICP Solar Reports First GreenMeter Shipments
ICP Solar ill begin shipping its new, patented, Sunsei® GreenMeter this month.

Are you in California and interested in solar for your home? Call us at 877.SUN.MOJO or visit our website to learn more.

Today most of our electricity and the energy we use to power our vehicles come from someplace far away.

Typically it’s a hole in the ground. We use a lot of energy to dig that hole, pull carbon out of the hole—coal, oil, and natural gas, and transport it to a location where we refine and/or store it. Then some energy gets used to transport this fuel to yet another location where we feed it to a massive furnace, creating the heat we need to make steam to spin an electromagnet—more energy gets lost here too. Finally, we lose yet more energy sending it over a long distance to end users. A lot of energy gets lost making energy in our centralized system.

Decentralized energy generation, like solar panels on a roof, eliminate much of this inefficiency. With rooftop solar, photons get turned into electrons where customers use the energy. That cuts out digging the hole, extracting the fuel, hauling it, storing it, burning it, and sending it home. Sunshine on your roof is an effective way to charge a cell phone or power a hybrid car.

In last week’s Sunday New York Times, Al Gore called for the country to invest $400 billion in a “unified national smart grid” so that electricity generated in the desert can be sent to population centers. Not only is that a lot of money to lose electrons going a long distance, it doesn’t take into account the power of localized, decentralized power generation to cost-effectively deliver clean electricity to customers today.

The North American Electricity Reliability Corporation recently reported that new centralized renewable generation—big wind turbines and desert solar—will stress our current electricity grid. However, local solar generation has the opposite effect. When photons become electrons at the point of consumption, consumers demand less power from the grid, thereby making the grid more reliable.

We don’t have to spend $400 billion (or ≈$1,333 for every American) on a new grid to run our cars off solar. Today SunRun customers can charge their cars using the sun from their roofs for 50% of the cost of burning gasoline.

here are other benefits to decentralized renewable energy generation too. For example, it’s hard for our enemies to attack, which is among the reasons why former Director of the CIA Jim Woolsey called on the country to invest in it following September 11^th.

Local renewable generation, like rooftop solar, is an important part of our national energy strategy and is a complementary part of our nation’s changing generation fleet.

Are you in California and interested in solar for your home? Call us at 877.SUN.MOJO or visit our website to learn more.

The Rise & Shine is your daily source for all solar-industry news. Brought to you by Sweet Solar Home and the Experts at SunRun.

CALIFORNIA NEWS
SMUD Installs Solar Power on Affordable Housing
SMUD has installed the first solar-power system on an affordable housing complex in Sacramento. The housing complex, on Florin Mall Drive, was built in a partnership with the AIDS Housing Alliance

Credit Crisis Shakes Up Solar Land Rush
All the sunniest spots in the California desert are already leased by potential solar developers, but the credit crunch could force firms to give up their claims and bigger solar players are laying in wait.

NATIONAL NEWS
Homes and Businesses Go Solar With No Upfront Cost
Renewable Funding is now providing a first-in-the-nation financial service allowing property owners to install solar panels and pay for them over 20 years through a voluntary line item on their property tax bills.

Connecticut Rolls Out New Cleantech Fund
A $9 million fund has been launched to make investments in seed and early-stage companies, focusing on renewable energy, energy efficiency, environmental remediation and clean water.

Unirac Provides Solar Mounting Solutions to Enxco Installation
Unirac Inc., a manufacturer of solar photovoltaic mounting solutions, has partnered with EnXco Inc. to supply a laminate RapidRac commercial flat-roof solution for a 1.8 MW solar array.

UTILITY INDUSTRY & REGULATORY NEWS
Google Joins Smart Grid Group
Google said this morning that it had joined Demand Response and Smart Grid Coalition, suggesting that the search engine giant is increasingly looking into managing energy information.

FINANCIAL NEWS & MARKETS
Solaria Seeks $100M for Solar in Stripes
Silicon solar startup Solaria is looking to more than double its funding with a new $100 million financing round, CEO Suvi Sharma confirmed with us today, and first reported by VentureWire.

Q-Cells Publishes Results to September 30, 2008
Production increased for the first 9 months increased by 63 % to 417.0 Megawatt peak (MWp). Production in Q3 was 153.5 MWp, slightly up on Q2.

Ersol Presents Nine Month Results 2008
In the first 9 months of the year, ersol increased its consolidated revenue to 214.M. This corresponds to an increase of 101.5%.

GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
The Renewable Energy Industry’s Obama Wish List
During a conference call Thursday, the leaders of the Solar Energy Industries Association, American Wind Energy Association and other trade groups lobbied for a plethora of legislation and policy initiatives.

TECHNOLOGY
SolFocus Releases New SF-1100S CPV System
The company said that this new generation of its CPV technology achieves panel efficiencies of 25%.

ET Solar Releases Enhanced Dual-Axis Tracking System
ET Solar Group Corp., an integrated manufacturer of photovoltaic products, has released a new dual-axis tracking system, the ET-D81, that features a wind-load capacity of 110 mph.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Report: Renewables Can Meet Baseload Replace Old Reactors
Canada’s Energy Minister George Smitherman’s goal of increasing the amount of green energy in the province’s electricity plan can only be met by replacing aging nuclear stations with new green sources of energy over the next decade.

EU Seeks to Expand Energy Grids
The European Commission has unveiled plans to diversify the EU’s energy imports and reduce dependence on Russia, the main gas supplier.

Powering the World
In 2006 18.3% of the world’s electricity was produced using renewable sources. But by 2030 this will rise to 23.3%.

Japan Announces Action Plan to Promote Solar Energy
Four Japanese ministries jointly announced the “Action Plan to Increase the Introduction of Solar Power Generation” on Nov 11, 2008.

Oerlikon Boosts Fab Line Efficiency
The Swiss thin-film production line maker says using zinc oxide instead of tin-oxide and increasing output, raises its Amorph High Performance line’s capacity by 50 percent.

Hoku Materials Signs Solar Silicon Metal Supply Deal with Polymet
The agreement states that Polymet will supply Hoku with guaranteed amounts of metallurgical-grade silicon for three years, beginning in 2009.

Kyocera Announces Construction of New Solar Cell Manufacturing Plant
The new plant, located in Yasu City, Shiga Prefecture, Japan, will be the Kyocera Group’s largest manufacturing facility in Japan.

Donauer Starts Up 1.4 MW Photovoltaic Power Plant
Donauer Solartechnik’s first large photovoltaic project in Spain has been connected to the grid. The ground mounted system in Vila-Sana has a nominal power of around 1.4 MW.

Government Inquiry Supports Adoption of Gross Solar Feed-in Tariff
Am Australian federal senate inquiry report, supports calls for the adoption of a national gross feed-in tariff scheme that would see electricity retailers paying solar-homes for the clean power they produce, says the Alternative Technology Association (ATA).

Are you in California and interested in solar for your home? Call us at 877.SUN.MOJO or visit our website to learn more.