Solar panels are usually mounted in series, to sum up their voltages, and the resulting power is sent to a large inverter, which transforms the DC voltage into AC. One big issue with this scheme is that if shade falls on one panel, or it gets dirty, the inverter lowers the current of all the other panels, and causing power losses through inefficiency.

MIT researchers are hopeful of capturing and releasing solar energy with the help of thermo-chemical technology. Scientists were already working on this technology in seventies but this project was aborted due to its expensiveness and termed as too impractical to achieve. But MIT researchers are now gearing up to take this thermo-chemical technology that is supposed to convert solar energy into electrical energy.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has instructed the Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group (Vinacomin) to promote its activities that it has undertaken to ensure power plants have an adequate amount of coal to run their facilities. Vinacomin should set up a team to work with the steering committee on importing coal for the thermoelectric projects, draft plans for importing coal and should monitor transport networks, said Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Le Duong Quang.

A New Zealand firm is hoping to beat rivals to Britain's lucrative boiler replacement market with its energy-efficient product and says an IPO (initial public offering) in Europe could be on the cards as it ramps up production. Whisper Tech, controlled by New Zealand state power group Meridian, expects to be profitable within a year and is examining its funding options over the next 12-18 months as it moves into mass production.

The Coca-Cola company has been introducing more electric vehicles and other low-emissions trucks into its massive fleet, and now researchers at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University are developing yet another alternative energy option. The team has been working on a solar powered air conditioning system that would significantly reduce or eliminate beverage delivery truck emissions related to cooling.

The Abu Dhabi Distribution Company (ADDC), which supplies electricity to the city and surrounding areas, will have installed digital electricity meters in all buildings by the end of this year, its deputy managing director Abdulrahman al Dhaheri said yesterday. The new meters not only calculate power usage, but also allow consumers to sell their own solar-generated electricity back to the grid.

A few days ago, the Israel-based energy company ZenithSolar has officially unveiled its 3rd generation Solar Z20. Being installed in Kibbutz Yavne in central Israel, the solar energy generator is a combined heat and power system, able to deliver 72% efficiency.

Works such as leveling an area of 251ha, building bypass road south of Hau river, compensating and site clearing, resettling 315 households… have been completed. The constructions of roads, electricity system, water supply system, embankments along Hau river in the plant construction site and coal slag dumping area ... are being expeditiously implemented to be completed on schedule.

In Vinh Truong hamlet, Phuoc Dinh commune, Thuan Nam district, Ninh Thuan, representatives of the Ministry of Industry and Trade have announced Decision 3849/QD-BCT dated July 20th 2010 of the Ministry of Industry and Trade approving the Construction location scheme of Ninh Thuan 1 nuclear power plant established by the Institute of Energy in November 2008 for the investors and the provincial People's Committee of Ninh Thuan to prepare premises and infrastructure.

Leave it to larger-than-life Texas to lead the U.S. into a new energy future. While the state is most closely associated with oil, it has also been an early pioneer of wind power, and is beginning to embrace solar energy along with armloads of new green jobs. Now the San Antonio Water System has set the national bar high in the sewage-to-biogas field, by becoming the first water district to hook a biogas facility up to a commercial gas pipeline.

At three feet (11 meters) tall, the SunCatcher is almost four times bigger than the world’s largest biological flower, the Sumatran titan arum. It has parabolic petals that appear virtually flat, like those of a buttercup. The device is made up of 40 mirrors, tightly arranged into a 3,400-square-foot (315-square-meter) dish that, like a real flower, angles toward the sun.

The ‘Global Wind Energy Outlook 2010’ (GWEO 2010) finds that wind power could play a key role in satisfying the world’s increasing power demand, while at the same time achieving major greenhouse gas emissions reductions. The 1,000 GW of wind power capacity projected to be installed by 2020 would save as much as 1.5 billion tonnes of CO2 every year.

There are more than two billion people worldwide with no access to drinking water. This is the reason why researchers over the globe are trying to find solutions such as desalination. This reverse osmosis of water is the most efficient and economical form of desalination but the problem is that it needs 3 kWh per cubic meter of water. Solar panels and wind turbines can be used to supply this power.

DOE encourages the growth of these programs nationwide by selecting exemplary programs to receive Green Power Leadership Awards. This year's winners include 3Degrees, Bonneville Environmental Foundation, SolarCity and SunRun – recognized by DOE as the Non-Utility Green Power Suppliers of the Year – and La Plata Electric Association and Portland General Electric – recognized as the Utility Green Power Programs of the Year.

California has topped the American Council for an Energy Efficiency Economy (ACEEE)’s state energy efficiency ranking for a fourth year in a row. The State Energy Efficiency Scorecard ranks each region on its energy efficiency policies, programmes, transport policy, building performance codes, combined heat and power and appliance standards.

A Chevrolet Volt electric vehicle seen here October 7 charging at a solar-powered charging station in Detroit, Michigan. More than 5,300 charging stations will be installed in Michigan as the birthplace of the US auto industry prepares for the introduction of electric cars.

The city may enter a three-year contract aimed at saving the city an estimated $3 million on electric power acquisition and distribution over 12 years for $1.8 million over three years. The proposed agreement would be made with non-profit American Municipal Power Inc. (AMP) to operate an energy efficiency program called Efficiency Smart Power Plant. Cuyahoga Falls has its own municipal electric system and purchases power through AMP.

China's top economic planner is proposing graduated tariffs on residential electricity use as part of the nation's efforts to save energy, the National Development and Reform Commission said Saturday on its website. "A graduated mechanism will improve China's power tariff structure and spur energy conservation," the economic planning body said.

Vietnam’s first two nuclear power plants will be built in the central coastal province of Ninh Thuan, with Plant No. 1 located in Vinh Truong village of Phuoc Dinh commune and the other in Thai An village of Vinh Hai commune.

Florian Bailly, a French cyclist, completed a 12 countries and two continents tour on a custom-made solar bike this week. The 10,000-kilometer journey, from France to Tokyo, lasted two-thirds less than it would have taken on a normal bike.