More names for the GreenBeat marquee: Gee, Wagner, and Wong

More names for the GreenBeat marquee: Gee, Wagner, and Wong

A new flock of experts and industry leaders has joined the roster for GreenBeat 2009, the seminal event on the Smart Grid, on Nov. 18 and 19. We are very excited to announce this group, as it spans analysts, purse-string holders, and an inspiring new… Continue Reading

SoCal Edison signs to buy 500 MW from new First Solar plants

SoCal Edison signs to buy 500 MW from new First Solar plants

Southern California Edison, the major utility that was conspicuously absent from last week’s bevy of applicants for smart grid stimulus funds, has forged a partnership with First Solar to buy electricity from two new thin-film photovoltaic plants slated to produce 550 megawatts for 170,000 homes.

The… Continue Reading

Edison, BP unite to deliver 90 MW of wind power

Edison, BP unite to deliver 90 MW of wind power

Southern California Edison is pursuing a 20-year contract to buy and distribute power generated by a BP Wind Energy-backed 90-megawatt wind farm in Idaho. The agreement is pending approval by the California Utilities Commission, the Wall Street Journal reports.

As part of the deal, the Edison… Continue Reading

Roundup: Cloud computing stays free, big wind in SoCal, open source business and more

Roundup: Cloud computing stays free, big wind in SoCal, open source business and more

Dell doesn’t get cloud computing — A bid by computer maker Dell to trademark the term “cloud computing”, a broad term generally used to describe services and software that live on the Internet, has been preliminarily rejected by the US Patent Office.

SoCal Edison signs for 900MW… Continue Reading

Duke Energy invests $100M in rooftop solar projects

Duke Energy invests $100M in rooftop solar projects

Duke Energy — hardly your conventional renewable energy startup — has thrown its hat in the solar ring with a $100 million investment in commercial-scale rooftop solar panels.

The Charlotte, North Carolina, based electric utility will partner with commercial and residential property owners to tap into… Continue Reading

Solar outlook stays bright even as economy dims

Solar outlook stays bright even as economy dims

While the market for silicon solar panels appears to be growing at a healthy clip, several factors could either retard or speed its development. A worldwide silicon shortage, government investment credits, energy prices and the existing financing and installation models for solar panels are all… Continue Reading