solar panel

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White House Misses Solar Panels Deadline

Promised last October panels would be installed by end of spring

(Newser) - Summer officially begins today, which means spring ended yesterday, which means the White House has a broken promise it made last October: to install solar panels on the roof of the most iconic home in the nation by spring 2011. The Energy Department did release a statement yesterday, saying it'...

Google Wants Solar Panels on Your Roof

Company invests $280M in plan with installer SolarCity

(Newser) - Google is investing $280 million to help private US homeowners put solar panels on their rooftops. The money will allow installer SolarCity to offer solar systems to 10,000 homeowners for no money up front. In exchange, customers agree to pay a set price for the power produced by the...

Solar Panels Power Marines in Afghanistan

Alternative energy test wins over skeptics

(Newser) - US Marines in Afghanistan say flexible solar panels aren't just helping them cut back on fuel consumption, they're making military personnel safer. A unit testing the Solar Portable Alternative Communications Energy System—SPACES—says it reduced generators' diesel consumption from 20 gallons a day to 2.5 gallons a day,...

Space Station Panels Unfurled, Despite Threat of 'Stiction'

(Newser) - Astronauts on the International Space Station successfully unfurled the last of the craft’s solar panels today, despite the chronic problem of “stiction,” ABC reports. Stiction is, predictably, the engineering term for things sticking together. When panels have had trouble opening in the past, spacemen have resorted to...

Toyota Working on Mass-Market Solar Car

Company believed to be trying to build first mass-market car running soley on sunshine

(Newser) - Toyota is trying to leapfrog rivals by developing a mass-market solar-powered car on the sly. The futuristic vehicle will get power from solar cells in the rooftop, providing enough energy to power only its accessories initially, reports Hybrid Cars News. The company is thought to be years away from creating...

Endeavour Heads to Space Station

(Newser) - The space shuttle Endeavour lifted off last night on a journey to the International Space Station, where astronauts will install new equipment and fix a solar panel, Space.com reports. The crew of the ISS will double from three to six next year; ahead of that, the Endeavour crew is...

Mars Lander Falls Silent
 Mars Lander Falls Silent 
Nov 10, 2008 5:11 PM CST

Mars Lander Falls Silent

Phoenix lacks the solar power to continue its mission

(Newser) - The Martian autumn has cut power to NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander, ending its mission of scientific discovery, NASA reports. As anticipated, shorter days and increasingly overcast skies are preventing sufficient solar energy from reaching the lander’s power cells. It has already collected data for 2 months longer than...

Solar Roofs Give Stores Moment in Sun

Increasingly, US chains turning to solar power as a way to reduce costs

(Newser) - Some of the largest US retail chains have begun to embrace solar power as a way to reduce energy costs and to wrangle some cred among green-conscious shoppers, reports the New York Times. Kohl’s, Macy’s, Safeway, and Whole Foods are among chains rushing to install test panels on...

African Sun Could Power EU
  African Sun Could Power EU 
Jul 23, 2008 1:50 PM CDT

African Sun Could Power EU

Scientists propose African solar farms for Europe's power

(Newser) - All of the European continent’s electrical needs could be generated by massive solar farms in Africa, scientists posited today, unveiling a plan to do just that, the Guardian reports. The proposal, which would require an area the size of Wales—insignificant in the vast expanse of the Sahara Desert,...

Celebs Face Off in Green Arms Race

Bill Nye, Ed Begley compete for smallest carbon footprint in Calif. neighborhood

(Newser) - It could only happen in California—a pair of celebrity neighbors, actor Ed Begley Jr. and "Science Guy" Bill Nye, are involved in a contest of environmental one-upsmanship, the AP reports. Since Nye moved onto Begley’s block in Studio City 2 years ago, the two have been competing...

Solar Panels Trump Trees
 Solar Panels Trump Trees 
Mar 26, 2008 5:43 PM CDT

Solar Panels Trump Trees

Calif. man forced to cut down redwoods so neighbor can tap sun's energy

(Newser) - A dispute between California neighbors pitting trees against solar panels has gone to the panels, KGO-TV reports. Following a seven-year battle over whether one should have to cut down trees in his backyard that shade the other’s solar panels, Richard Treanor today chopped two redwoods after he was found...

Future Sunny for Solar Power
Future Sunny for Solar Power
Feb 20, 2008 1:26 PM CST

Future Sunny for Solar Power

Tech leap will enable replacement of fossil fuels in 20 years: panel

(Newser) - Don’t sweat the energy crisis, say scientist Ray Kurzweil and Google co-founder Larry Page, who predict that within 20 years we’ll be getting 100% of our energy from the sun, based on current solar technology and growth trends. Kurzweil’s fortune-telling record is pretty good: He foresaw the...

Astronauts Fix Solar Panel
Astronauts Fix Solar Panel
Nov 3, 2007 11:45 AM CDT

Astronauts Fix Solar Panel

They complete risky mission on international space station

(Newser) - Two astronauts fixed the broken solar panel on the international space station today in one of the riskiest spacewalks ever undertaken, the AP reports. Scott Parazynski installed a brace and fixed snarled wires on the highly electrified panel, which then unfurled to its full length. "Excellent work guys, excellent,...

13 Stories