Last week, Big Solar exercised some of its growing clout by killing an anti-solar bill in the Arizona legislature. Here’s what happened:  state Republican senator Debbie Lasko introduced a bill that would have gutted Arizona’s renewable portfolio standard as we know it. Thankfully, a threat by Chinese solar giant Suntech Power Holdings to withdraw plans to put its first U.S. manufacturing plant in Arizona rallied enough pressure to remove the bill from the floor. It was of great relief to solar proponents in the state, but unfortunately, Lasko’s H.B. 2701 was not the only threat to Arizona’s fledgling solar industry.

Republican Representative Carl Seel has introduced a bill that makes Lesko’s look tame in comparison. His legislation would remove the right of the Arizona Corporate Commission – the state board that regulates utilities – to mandate renewable energy standards at all. Arizona passed their RES in 2006, requiring power providers to get 15 percent of their energy from renewable resources by 2025, including a certain percentage from solar photovoltaics.

The Goldwater Institute, a very conservative thinktank named after infamous conservative Barry Goldwater, tried to sue the state, claiming that it was unconstitutional to force any such mandates or regulations on private utilities (unless, it seems, those regulations or incentives promote nuclear, coal or natural gas power plants). Goldwater Institute lost that lawsuit, but has responded by facilitating Representative Seel’s H.B. 2381 that would render the Arizona Supreme Court’s decision moot.

Furthermore, Arizona’s republican governor, who reportedly helped kill Lesko’s bill after industry pressure mounted, also killed a regional cap-and-trade program that Arizona pioneered to put a price on carbon-emitting energy sources.

The recent wave of attacks on solar power in Arizona is troubling for a state that has some of the best solar potential in the world. There are states where one could argue that solar power is not the best renewable option, like the windy Dakotas or the geothermal-laden Northwest, but Arizona is practically made of sunshine. Why any group or lawmaker would want to kill solar power in that state is beyond this writer.

But H.B. 2701 had 51 co-sponsors, and green-leaning governor Janet Napolitano is gone. While Suntech Power Holdings and the industry managed to kill Debbie Lesko’s anti-solar bill, a huge victory among recent attacks, and may very well succeed in killing Carl Seel’s anti-RPS bill, the fact that such contention exists in Arizona may scare off potential solar industry additions to the state. Several states are working to attract green tech industries and the market is highly competitive.

However the fate of Arizona’s solar industry is decided, it will likely be decided soon, as Suntech’s potential industry followers are unlikely to wait around for long while California, Oregon, Michigan, Colorado and other states wait with open arms and less uncertainty.

Photo Credit: Interesting Energy Facts & CleanMPG

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Run, don’t walk, to your TV and TURN IT ON RIGHT NOW! Solar One Educator Sarah Pidgeon will be seen tonight as part of NBC4’s special series Wednesday’s Child, a weekly feature that helps recruit families who can provide permanent and loving homes for NYC foster children.

WNBC came to Solar One to tape Sarah showing a child, Brandon, how to build a solar car. Brandon, who is looking for a permanent home/adoption has been in and out of foster homes most of his life. He is interested in science so this was a perfect fit.

Solar One was happy to participate in this segment, and we wish Brandon a lot of luck in his search for a permanent home!

WHEN – Wednesday, March 10, between 6 and 6:30pm and again on Sunday, March 7, between 7 and 8am on NBC Channel 4.

The segment will also be available online beginning on Thursday, March 11.

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The ins and outs of tomorrow’s energy grid will be tested on an unprecedented scale in Chicago. Local utility ComEd, a subsidiary of Exelon Corporation, will use $5 million in Recovery Act funding to institute the program, which will initially outfit 8,000 homes with advanced smart meters in order to test how well consumers manage their energy consumption when monitoring and programming are available. The project will also include outfitting 100 homes with distributed solar power systems, creating “mini-utilities” through which ComEd can glimpse the smart home of the future.

Eventually, the project will extend to cover 131,000 Chicago homes. The first $8,000 will test a small range of smart meters for comparative purposes. 3,100 customers will receive a basic energy use display meter, 1,500 will get a touch-screen version that allows for electricity monitoring and internet access, and 400 will also receive programmable thermostats that allow remote control of heating and cooling systems.

The program will also enact an unprecedented pricing program in which pilot participants will be offered a six-tiered pricing approach.

The 6 options are widely accessible. They are:

• Regular current flat rates
• Rising rates based on higher-than-average consumption
• Hourly rates based on day-ahead wholesale rates
• Rising rates based on peak demand
• Rebate for customers that reduce consumption during peak demand
• Time-of-use pricing in which costs differ between peak and non-peak loading periods

The goal is to teach homeowners how to be more efficient consumers of energy, as well as find out which smart grid products are most efficient at helping to make that happen. America’s electric grid is aging and, quite frankly, dumb. Half the battle in easing the pressure on our unkempt, deregulated grid is to reduce peak demand while increasing the use of distributed renewable energy. Moreover, a key ingredient in any smart grid is a smart consumer, a fact that ComEd and the feds’ joint venture in Chicago will hopefully illustrate in the real world  — and in real time.

Sources: CleanTechnica, Cooler Planet

Photo Credit: Anastasia Marie & Rockefeller Group Development

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SARASOTA, Fla., March 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Sunovia Energy Technologies (OTC Bulletin Board: SUNV) and Fifth Third Bank announced today that they have finalized a partnership whereby eligible customers can now finance the costs of purchasing and installing Sunovia’s LED products.

By installing Sunovia’s LED Light Fixtures, which are sold under the brand name EvoLucia®, customers generally save more than 50% in energy and more than $500 in bulb replacement and maintenance costs during the life of the new EvoLucia LED fixture. The savings that the customer enjoys from converting to the new EvoLucia LED fixture more than covers the entire costs of the financing. All Fifth Third Bank loans are subject to credit review and approval.

Sunovia believes that the new financing program resolves the final sticking point (up-front costs) for customers who are contemplating switching to its EvoLucia line of LED lighting. The EvoLucia LED lights already increase visibility, save energy, reduce carbon emissions, last 5x longer, and provide a more evenly distributed cool white light than existing street lights; and now, there is no additional costs to customers who step into the future of lighting.

The specialized program provides financing packages of up to five years with no money down at prevailing market interest rates. A client will have the option to pay monthly, quarterly or annually to amortize their investment in a period of five years. At the end of the lease term, the client will own the lights outright with no additional lease buyout required. Typically, the reduced maintenance costs and energy savings more than cover the monthly lease payment, and all savings accumulated after the financing period go to the customer’s bottom line (for governmental installations, these are savings to taxpayers).

On average, the maintenance and energy savings enjoyed by customers who convert to EvoLucia LED light fixtures results in a payback period between 2 and 4 years. This means that the customers break even during year 2 to year 4, and all savings thereafter go to the bottom line.

“Our products dramatically reduce energy and maintenance costs. The primary complaint that we have received from potential customers has been the up-front cost associated with switching to LED lighting; and our new partnership with Fifth Third Bank eliminates those expenses. We have now slanted the ball field in our favor in all aspects of street lighting,” said Jim Perkins, Sunovia Energy’s VP of Sales and Finance. “The benefits of our Aimed Optics™ technology, when combined with these flexible terms, makes EvoLucia LED lighting an overwhelming solution for the global market.”

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KNOXVILLE, Tenn., March 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — With solar panels and wind turbines popping up across the region, the Tennessee Valley Authority’s homegrown renewable energy program, Generation Partners, now has enough power to meet the annual electricity needs of a fairly large subdivision.

Fueled by TVA incentives and federal tax credits, participation in Generation Partners http://www.tva.gov/greenpowerswitch/partners/ has tripled since last spring from 69 to 194 installations — 181 are solar and 13 are wind.

The combined generating capacity of the Generation Partners portfolio has grown from 454 kilowatts to more than 1.49 megawatts. While the wind doesn’t always blow and the sun doesn’t always shine, the combined energy from today’s Generation Partners installations is expected to make enough electricity over a year to equal the annual consumption of more than 120 average Tennessee Valley households.

“Surpassing 1 megawatt is a milestone for this program,” said Susan Curtis, TVA senior manager of Generation Partners. “It shows a growing desire of many residents to take a personal stake in clean renewable energy for our region. TVA and its distributors want to help.”

Though a small contributor to TVA’s 33,000-megawatt system, the power from Generation Partners, a pilot program launched in 2003, comes with clean-air savings. The 547,877 kilowatt-hours Generation Partners produced in fiscal 2009 represents 497 metric tons in avoided carbon dioxide emissions from fossil power plants.

USFloors Inc. of Dalton, Ga., recently became Generation Partners’ largest participant with the installation of a 144-kilowatt system. It has 672 solar photovoltaic panels covering 14,500 square feet on a warehouse rooftop that can be seen from Interstate 75. Already, the sustainable flooring company is planning to modify a second existing solar array of 31.5 kilowatts to more than 300 kilowatts.

“There is no question that both TVA and North Georgia Electric Membership Corp. have been crucial elements in making this come to fruition,” USFloors President Piet Dossche said. “Without them this would have been less attractive.”

Generation Partners offers homeowners and businesses financial incentives for qualifying solar, wind, biomass and small hydroelectric systems of less than 1 megawatt. TVA pays each new participant $1,000 to offset startup costs and agrees to buy 100 percent of the green power they produce. TVA will pay the retail rate, plus any fuel cost adjustment, plus a 12-cent premium per kilowatt-hour for solar and 3 cents per kilowatt-hour for wind, biomass and hydro.

“Many of the homeowners and businesses we serve support renewable energy technologies and want to invest in renewable energy systems, which is encouraged through this program,” said Steve Ward, energy services coordinator at North Georgia Electric Membership Corp., based in Dalton.

Federal renewable tax credits and the expanded Generation Partners pilot program are driving consumer interest in renewables, he said, noting North Georgia Electric Membership Corp. has two businesses and three homes now participating in Generation Partners and applications from four more.

“Based on the participation in the program we have had so far and the many inquiries about it, we do expect to see more renewable energy systems installed in 2010,” Ward said.

“The incentives make the project viable,” said Richard Grogan, president of Total Quality Instrumentation Inc., a renewable energy sales and installation company in Cookeville, Tenn., whose 44-kilowatt solar array pushed Generation Partners past 1 megawatt in capacity.

Total Quality’s system includes 220 solar panels atop the company’s 10,000 square-foot building and a 34-foot-tall wind turbine. Grogan said he was delighted with his first monthly bill from his TVA distributor, Upper Cumberland Electric Membership Corp. It showed that renewables not only generated enough electricity to meet his company’s needs for the month, but also a $40 credit.

“We just started in environmental installations late last year,” Grogan said. “We have done four windmills and two solar systems. We have many systems in the works waiting on grants. Upon approval, our next install will be a 44-kilowatt system in Nashville on an airport hangar.”

“We are going like gangbusters,” said Jim Purcell, program manager at Nashville Electric Service. NES has 23 homes and 21 commercial buildings either in the process of installing solar panels for Generation Partners or already plugged in, including two public housing projects with 65-kilowatt solar arrays.

“I am fairly confident that the incentives that are out there from TVA are making these green companies work for us,” Purcell said, noting a growing number of Nashville-area installers. “Based on what I am seeing, the early returns are excellent.”

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MERRIMACK, N.H.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–On March 9, 2010, GT Solar International, Inc. (NASDAQ: SOLR), priced the secondary offering of 25 million shares of its common stock at a price to the public of $4.85 per share. All of the shares are being sold by one selling stockholder, GT Solar Holdings, LLC. The selling stockholder has granted the underwriters an option to purchase up to an additional 3.75 million shares of common stock at the secondary offering price to cover over-allotments, if any.

UBS Securities LLC and Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC are the joint bookrunning managers for the offering, Thomas Weisel Partners LLC is the lead manager and Pacific Crest Securities LLC and Raymond James & Associates, Inc. are the co-managers.

A copy of the prospectus supplement and base prospectus relating to the offering may be obtained by contacting: UBS Securities LLC, 299 Park Avenue, New York, New York, 10171, Attn: Prospectus Department (, ext. 3884) or Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, Eleven Madison Avenue, New York, New York, 10010-3629 (800-221-1037).

A shelf registration statement relating to the offering was filed and declared effective on November 13, 2009 by the Securities and Exchange Commission. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

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ROSEMEAD, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Southern California Edison (SCE), an Edison International company (NYSE:EIX), and SunPower Corp. (Nasdaq: SPWRA, SPWRB) announced today that SunPower has won a contract to provide solar technology for generating up to 200 megawatts, or 80 percent, of the solar power capacity needed for the utility’s large solar photovoltaic installation program.

During the next five years, SCE plans to install, own and operate 250 megawatts of solar generating capacity, most of it on otherwise unused large warehouse rooftops. The large one- to two-million-watt solar installations will be connected directly to neighborhood distribution circuits where the leased rooftops are located.

“The anticipated benefits of this agreement with SunPower include panel costs that will allow us to meet our commitment to increasing our customers’ supply of renewable energy while reducing the cost of installed solar photovoltaic power in California,” said SCE President John R. Fielder.

SCE is purchasing the SunPower T5 Solar Roof Tile product, which integrates into a single unit a solar panel, frame and roof mounting system, thereby reducing installation time and costs. In addition, the SunPower product was selected because it will allow SCE to produce more power per installation.

“The SCE program reflects the growing value of advanced solar panel technology as a reliable, cost-effective energy resource that can be installed quickly, anywhere and at any scale,” said Howard Wenger, president of SunPower’s utilities and power plant business group. “SunPower applauds SCE’s commitment to rooftop solar development, which is unprecedented in the utility industry.”

In a related development, on January 21, 2010, the California Public Utilities Commission approved the process to be used for a second track of solar installations that will double the size of SCE’s photovoltaic program. Regulators previously directed SCE to conduct a competitive solicitation offering long-term power contracts to independent solar power providers willing to install an additional 250 megawatts of photovoltaic generation. SCE hopes to launch the solicitation later this month. Eventually, the two installation tracks will add a total of 500 megawatts to the solar generating capacity of Southern California’s power resources – the largest U.S. photovoltaic program ever undertaken.

SCE Solar Project Benefits

• New generation sources will be installed in areas where customer demand is rising.
• The installations will speed up California’s deployment of solar generation while major new renewable energy transmission lines are being built such as SCE’s 4,500 megawatt Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project.
• SCE grid engineers will be studying the electrical effects of a high penetration of photovoltaics on distribution circuits and adapting circuits to accommodate these large installations. The information gained will be shared with the power industry.
• SCE anticipates its solar power project will create as many as 800 new green jobs in Southern California in the solar industry. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, one of SCE’s project partners, is supporting the project through the expansion of its solar installation apprentice training program.

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MARLBORO, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Evergreen Solar, Inc. (Nasdaq: ESLR), a manufacturer of STRING RIBBON™ solar power panels with its proprietary, low-cost wafer manufacturing technology, announced today the promotion of Peter Rusch to Vice President of Sales for Europe, Africa and the Middle East. It also announced that Thomas Hofmann has been promoted to the Director of Sales for Europe.

In this newly-created position, Rusch will oversee market development, sales strategy and implementation in the three key regions of Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Rusch previously held the position of Director of Sales in Europe. An 11-year veteran of the solar industry, Rusch joined Evergreen Solar in 2002. He previously worked as an export manager at Solon AG before becoming an executive at Solarbiss Energietechnik GmbH. Rusch is a graduate of Bayreuth University and received his master’s degree from Ashcroft International Business Center in Cambridge, UK.

“Peter Rusch has helped Evergreen Solar significantly grow its presence and market share in Germany and southern Europe since joining the company,” said Richard M. Feldt, Chairman, CEO and President. “The European region represents the majority of our overall sales. Under Peter’s leadership, we are well positioned to take Evergreen Solar to the next level in the European market and beyond.”

“During the coming year we will continue to expand our sales efforts within continental Europe while also entering both the Middle East and Africa,” said Scott Gish, Vice President Sales and Marketing. “Peter’s experience within the solar industry and these specific markets makes him the ideal person to drive Evergreen Solar’s growth in these key regions.”

Rusch will be replaced by Hofmann as the Director of Sales for Europe. He will be tasked with continuing to expand Evergreen Solar’s sales footprint in key European countries including Germany, Italy, France and Spain. He began his career in the solar industry in 2003 with Shell Solar and joined Evergreen Solar in 2007 and most recently served as the Senior Key Account Manager for Germany.

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THE WOODLANDS, Texas–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Management of Evolution Solar Corp. (PinkSheets: EVSO) stated that they were very pleased with a new report from Environment America that outlines a vision for using the sun to meet 10 percent of the United States’ energy needs by 2030. Senator Bernie Sanders (VT) and three solar business executives have joined with Environment America to create a new awareness of the report’s vision for the future of solar energy in the US.

“At a time when we spend $350 billion importing oil from Saudi Arabia and other countries every year, the United States must move away from foreign oil to energy independence,” Senator Sanders said. “A dramatic expansion of solar power is a clean and economical way to help break our dependence on foreign oil, reduce greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming, improve our geopolitical position, and create good-paying green jobs.”

“Building a Solar Future: Repowering America’s Homes, Businesses and Industry with Solar Energy” examines a wide variety of solar technologies and tools, including photovoltaics, concentrating solar power, solar water heaters, solar space heating, and passive solar design. The report makes the case that there are many ways to take advantage of the sun’s energy. Solar energy can be converted to electricity, or used for lighting, heating and cooling. It can replace the fossil fuels we burn at electric power plants, in factories, in our homes, and even in our cars.

The report finds that getting 10 percent of our energy from solar energy within two decades is equivalent to the energy that the U.S. currently produces at nuclear power plants, more than half the energy currently consumed in American cars and light trucks, or nearly half as much energy as we currently obtain from burning coal. Solar energy can play a major role in weaning the nation from dangerous, polluting, unstable and, in many cases, increasingly expensive forms of energy.

Environment America called on local, state and federal governments to commit to expanding solar energy. This can be accomplished by adopting strong policies to make solar energy an important part of America’s energy future. Environment America recommends: investing in solar technologies, research and development; requiring that utilities get more of their electricity from renewable resources like solar; requiring that buildings codes move towards all new buildings using zero net-energy; educating the public and training an effective workforce.

Evolution Solar is currently building a solar demonstration site in partnership with Texas Southern University, to be placed at the university’s Houston campus. This project should help Evolution Solar acquire new projects in an industry that includes Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL), LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK), Sun Power (NASDQAQ: SPWRA) and First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR).

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Consider this T-shirt: It can monitor your heart rate and breathing, analyze your sweat and even cool you off on a hot summer’s day. Or a solar-powered dress that can charge your MP3 player? This is not science fiction — this is cotton in 2010.

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