Rise & Shine: September 25, 2008

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

Are you in the California Bay Area? Come visit SunRun and over 380 other exhibitors showcasing the latest in efficient, green and healthy building products at West Coast Green in San Jose, Thursday September 25th through Saturday September 27th. Al Gore will deliver the conference keynote address on Saturday morning. Learn more at http://www.westcoastgreen.com/ or contact us for information.

CALIFORNIA NEWS
Palm Desert Energy Loan Burns Through City Funds
Less than a month into the program, city officials say they already have applications that, if approved, will use up almost all of the $2.5M in fund money the City Council approved to kick start the project.

Sharp and Borrego Help, Thank SoCal Firefighters With Big Green Solar-Powered Gifts
Sharp and Borrego donated a state-of-the-art solar electric systems to firehouses in some of the neighborhoods most severely impacted by the Autumn 2007 wildfires in Southern California.

West Coast Green 2008 Goes Solar Powered with SolaRover
West Coast Green has partnered up with SolaRover in order to power a handful of major areas of the event via the sun.

Open Energy’s SolarSave Architectural PV Glass Manufactured by Suntech to Help Power New CA Academy of Sciences Building
Open Energy has completed its largest solar electric installation for the new California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California.

NATIONAL NEWS
Homeowners in Hawaii Get Windfall With Solar Power
To promote solar use by homeowners, the state has passed some amazing incentives. Homeowners converting their residences to solar get an upfront tax credit of up to $5,000.

Bella Energy Installs 100kW Solar System on Kent Denver School
A Bella Energy 100 kilowatt solar system on Kent Denver School provides clean renewable energy while teaching students about environmental stewardship.

Microsoft to Use Solar Panels in New Data Center
Microsoft will install solar panels on the roof of its new data center in San Antonio and will use solar power to supplement the 50MW of capacity it has provisioned from local utility CPS Energy.

Tour Solar-Powered Homes
Sponsored by Artisan Electric and Sustainable Vashon, this annual event in Vashon, WA will feature seven location to demonstrate a wide range of solar thermal and/or photovoltaic technologies for you to view as potential models for your own homes.

TriMet, PGE Study Solar and Wind Power for Transit Mall
TriMet and Portland General Electric are in talks about creating a 44-foot tall set of solar panels at the southern terminus of the light rail line under construction in downtown Portland.

Amid Boom, Concerns at Small Solar Farms
The solar power industry is experiencing growing pains over how power is financed and distributed. Larger companies may gain the upper hand.

UTILITY INDUSTRY & REGULATORY NEWS
Solar Grid Parity by 2010
Renewable Energy Focus reports Swiss thin film solar power company Oerlikon Solar hopes to reach grid parity by 2010.

FINANCIAL NEWS & MARKETS
Solar Stocks Enjoy Rally As Tax Breaks Renewed
Solar stocks rallied on Wednesday after the U.S. Senate voted to continue tax breaks worth $18 billion for renewable energy sources, including a generous eight-year extension for solar. Top gainers included SunPower, Evergreen, Akeena, Yingli, and Trina

Green Investments That “Beat the Street”
This story is just one example of homeowners who are making more money with a solar investment than anything they have in a bank, the market, or elsewhere.

Schneider Electric to Acquire Xantrex for $500M CAD
Tboard of directors at Canadian inverter manufacturer Xantrex Technology Inc. in late July agreed to sell the company to Schneider Electric SA, a stock-listed energy management company based in France.

GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
House Approves Alternative Minimum Tax Fix
The House energy relief and tax extension bill, which is expected to be debated Thursday, is fully paid for. But, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., pleaded with the House not to tinker with the Senate-passed package, warning that imposing so-called offsets would kill the bill because of Republican opposition in the Senate.

TECHNOLOGY
Foldable Solar panels Could Be Up To 80% Efficient
Researchers at the Idaho National Laboratory have designed a lightweight, foldable solar panel design which they predict will function at 80% efficiency through the implementation of nanoantennas.

SunPower Tracker Solar Tracking Technology Released
SunPower has released a new line of single-axis tracking systems for large-scale solar electric projects and power plants.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS
REC Secures Wafer Sales Contract
REC has signed a long-term agreement with Neo Solar Power in Taiwan for the supply of wafers. The agreement, which runs until 2015, is structured as a take-or-pay contract which pre-determined prices and volumes for the entire contract period.

Sunergy Enters Into Sales Agreement With Wuxi Guofei Green Energy Source
Sunergy announced that it has entered into a seven year sales agreement with Wuxi Guofei. Sunergy will supply Wuxi Guofei with 10 MW of monocrystalline cells each year, starting from 2009 through 2015

Spain Expects 3000MW In Solar Plants By 2010
Spain’s government said its new and less generous subsidy scheme, due to take effect shortly, foresees solar power plants reaching a capacity of 3,000 megawatts by 2010, or about double the present total.

Source: Solar Power News