Ten Million Solar Roofs in Ten Years
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) introduced a new bill that is designed to help promote the use of 
Photovoltaic panels in the U.S. by covering up 50% of the costs of a PV system. This bill would be in place for a decade.
To be eligible for this, the recipient has to be a homeowner, business, no profit entity, or local government, and located within the United States. The total capacity of the system can’t exceed 4 MW.
In a very smart addition, the building ALSO has to meet standards. The building the PV system is for, new or renovated, has to achieve no less than a rating of 75 under the Energy Star Program.
The amount of the rebate is atleast $3 per watt of installed capacity, the total rebate will not exceed 50% of the cost of purchase and installation.
The full downloadable text version is here. This will be filed on Monday. Co-sponsors are John Kerry (D-MA) Ben Cardon (D-MD), Arien Specter (R-PA) John Warner (R-VA), and Robert Mendez (D-NJ).
This will be added to the state and local incentive already available in most states.
Why is the U.S. Administration against renewable energy?
During this election buildup, there has been a lot of grandstanding about renewable energy and the amount of power that will be put behind development of renewables in the future. However the current administration seems to be dead set against that very idea.
Time after time the administration of this country has struck down bills or programs for renewable energy but have show extreme favoritism to big oil. For instance, when the latest energy bill that would have extended credits to renewables went through the House, it was stalled because the representatives of the citizens who are being eaten alive by the price of oil didnt feel that it was right to tax the very entity that is costing the average American citizen a bigger portion of their paycheck. Apparently taxing big oil would be too much of a strain on their record breaking billion dollar profit of late.
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Manufacturing costs for solar coming down
Menlo Park, Calif.
Quartz, the raw material for solar panels, is one of the most abundant minerals on earth. But for years, the solar industry has faced a bottleneck in processing quartz into polysilicon, a principal material used in most solar panels. The problem stalled a steady decline in prices for solar panels.
Now the silicon shortage may be coming to an end, predict some solar analysts, thanks to new factories coming online.
If true, the price for solar panel modules could start falling by as much as a third by 2010, says Travis Bradford, president of the Prometheus Institute for Sustainable Development in Cambridge, Mass. That’s good news for an industry that remains one of the most expensive power sources.
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Why Go Solar?
Here is a very informative video about solar power and how it can benefit you. Tony Boniface is the owner of Independent Power Systems that operates in the area of Colorado and Montana. He gives a very solid interview on why you should think about solar power for your home. Enjoy!
Canadian Solar Announces Delivery of BIPV Modules for 2008 Olympics
JIANGSU, China, June 11 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ — Canadian Solar Inc.
(”the Company”, “CSI” or “we”) (Nasdaq: CSIQ) today announced it has
completed the delivery of 66 KW of BIPV modules for the lamp posts along
the Olympic Boulevard from the “Bird’s Nest”, the main stadium for the 2008
Olympic Games, to the Olympic Square. This BIPV project sits right on the
axis of Beijing, symbolizing the nation’s increasing commitment to
sustainable development. Over its 25-year operating lifespan, this solar
power system, with modules horizontally placed for aesthetic purpose, will
still generate more than 1,925,000 Kilowatt hours and reduce CO2 emissions
by more than 2750 tons.
