Design Studio22 May 2012 10:59:56 CDTSEIA Solar Updatehttp://multibriefs.com/briefs/SEIA/SEIA.xmlenThe Obama administration ordered tariffs of 31 percent and higher on solar panels imported from China, escalating a simmering trade dispute with China over a case that has sharply divided American interests in the growing clean energy industry. The Commerce Department announced the stiff duties after making a preliminary finding that Chinese solar panel manufacturers dumped their goods — that is, sold them at below fair-market value.22 May 2012 10:59:56 CDThttp://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4fbba256d851e1The recent U.S. residential housing and mortgage market collapse gave securitization a bad name, but the practice of aggregating and dicing up residential solar photovoltaic system leases and commercial solar power purchase agreements is bound to play a growing role in solar and renewable energy finance going forward. Finding alternative means of financing poses the biggest challenge to industry participants with expiration of federal government investment and production tax credits looming and renewal uncertain. 22 May 2012 10:59:56 CDThttp://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4fbba2fb79b952If you thought Germany and California were aggressively trying to add solar power to the grid, the oil state of Saudi Arabia is giving both of them a run for their money with recent plans to enter the solar market. The country is looking for investors in a $109 billion plan to build 41 gigawatts of solar and a sustainable solar industry. You may think that a state with an abundance of oil is the least likely candidate to be a big solar investor, but that assumption would be wrong.22 May 2012 10:59:56 CDThttp://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4fbba3a2639e43Here's a bright idea: a solar panel above the doorway of West Virginia Wesleyan College's Christopher Hall of Science to harvest the power of the sun and store enough electricity to power offices inside the building. The project came about when Wesleyan senior engineering/physics major Scott Roberts and Research Assistant Professor of Physics Dr. Thomas Brennan discovered their mutual interest in renewable energy and decided to put it to work. (A discovery aided, no doubt, by the fact that Brennan can often be seen on campus using small solar panels to power a guitar and amplifier.) 22 May 2012 10:59:56 CDThttp://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4fbba5ecb679b4Irvine Unified School District in Irvine, Calif., is considering plans to install solar-paneled parking canopies at 11 campuses after it saved $220,000 in electricity costs in its first year using mostly rooftop solar panels at 15 sites. The parking canopies, to be installed by SunEdison, are expected to save the district $380,000 in energy costs in the first year, public records show. Altogether, the solar panels from both projects are expected to save the district $5 million to $11 million in the next two decades, depending on what Southern California Edison charges for its electricity.22 May 2012 10:59:56 CDThttp://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4fbba646d56a55A Hatch five-megawatt concentrated photovoltaic installation in New Mexico was previously the largest of its kind in the U.S., but that position is now held by the Alamosa Solar Generating plant, located in the San Luis Valley of Colorado. The developer, Cogentrix Energy, announced that the concentrated photovoltaic plant had begun commercial operation on May 10. The facility will produce 30 megawatts of solar power for use by customers of Xcel Energy's subsidiary, Public Service Company of Colorado. 22 May 2012 10:59:56 CDThttp://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4fbba7ab9a0d76Retail giant Walmart said it plans to install solar panels on top of about half of its roughly 50 Massachusetts stores as early as August as part of an expansion of solar power in the state. The installations for the 27 stores are still in the engineering phase, and local permits must be obtained, Walmart officials said. But once the projects are done, they will be capable of generating a total of about 10.5 megawatts worth of energy, enough to power up to 2,600 homes.22 May 2012 10:59:56 CDThttp://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4fbba84a46df77Apple Inc. plans to power its main U.S. data center entirely with renewable energy by the end of this year, taking steps to address longstanding environmental concerns about the rapid expansion of high-consuming computer server farms. The maker of the iPhone and iPad said it was buying equipment from SunPower Corp. and startup Bloom Energy to build two solar array installations in and around Maiden, N.C., near its core data center.22 May 2012 10:59:56 CDThttp://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4fbba8c9383588A second helping of $25 million in financing is expected to spur 1,000 Phoenix residents to install solar on their homes. National Bank of Arizona and the city of Phoenix have announced the launch of the Solar Phoenix 2 project. The project will provide $25 million in financing from National Bank of Arizona to allow residents to install leased solar systems on their roofs with no upfront cost. The leased systems are expected to save utility customers in Arizona Public Service and Salt River Project utility districts 10 to 15 percent per month on their electricity bills. 22 May 2012 10:59:56 CDThttp://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4fbba94ca3a2f9The first solar panel has been installed at the Topaz Solar Farm in San Luis Obispo County, Calif. The 550-megawatt project is a product of MidAmerican Solar and First Solar Inc. Said to be one of the largest solar projects under construction in the world, the project will provide enough energy for approximately 160,000 California homes. The $2 billion project is owned by MidAmerican Solar, a subsidiary of Warren Buffett's MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co. 22 May 2012 10:59:56 CDThttp://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4fbba9f93d72e10SolSolution, a Boston-based nonprofit startup providing solar energy solutions for K-12 schools, is quickly making a huge impact on local school systems in Massachusetts. The nonprofit has a clear yet powerful dual mission: simultaneously generate clean, renewable electricity and increase the quality of education in underprivileged schools. This startup social enterprise stands out because of its unique take on the established, for-profit solar power purchase agreement model.22 May 2012 10:59:56 CDThttp://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4fbbaa698e15811A solar power plant that the city of Tracy, Calif., hopes to build has cleared a major hurdle that's taken 14 years to accomplish. President Barack Obama has signed legislation authored by Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Calif., that will allow the city of Tracy to use property for a renewable energy project. The bill fixes a 14-year old bureaucratic problem that was preventing the Tracy solar project from moving forward. The city says the solar energy project will create nearly 200 jobs. 22 May 2012 10:59:56 CDThttp://multibriefs.com/ViewLink.php?i=4fbbac905771f12