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.

Enbridge in partnership with First Solar have designed the most impressive and largest photovoltaic facility in the world, an 80-megawatt solar project and have recently presented it in Ontario, Canada.

On the afternoon of October 14th, People's Committee of Hanoi discussed with the Chairman of the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) of Japan and theMinistry of Natural Resources and Environment about preparing for the implementation of the project "Building a system to treat waste of power industry" in an area of 1 ha of Nam Son Waste Disposal Complex, Soc Son district.

On October 18th, Phu Tho Department of Investment and Planning anounced that provincial People's Committee of Phu Tho granted the certificate of investment for the Construction project of Biomass bio-power plant at Rung Xanh area, Phong Chau town, Phu Ninh district. The unit implementing this project is Vietnam Hi-tech Bio-renewable Energy Joint Stock Company.

With rapid industrialization, the world has seen the development of a number of items or units, which generate heat. Until now this heat has often been treated as a waste, making people wonder if this enormous heat being generated can be transformed into a source of electric power. Now, with the physicists at the University of Arizona finding new ways to harvest energy through heat, this dream is actually going to become a reality.

Great efforts have been made to improve public awareness about energy savings. Energy efficient appliances have replaced power consuming equipment. Millions of compact lamps and solar water heaters have been used, while many power saving models have been applied to factories and smart/green buildings.

The U.S. military had been tinkering with renewable energy for some time. Now, seeing that one in 24 fuel convoys carried in Afghanistan gets at least a civilian and a soldier killed, the Pentagon set a firm standard for the army to use 50 percent of their energy from renewable resources by 2020.

The world's largest consumer product maker announced Monday that it has set ambitious long-term targets for cutting the waste it produces and improving its energy efficiency. Procter & Gamble said it eventually will use only renewable energy to power its factories and only recycled or renewable materials to make and package its products.

A British business offering turnkey solutions for micro wind power is aiming to become one of the top five producers in the world by 2016. Its innovative new design will provide a fully installed wind turbine for as little as $7000, according to the company’s CEO.

A new report out by the Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA) and GTM Research, the inaugural U.S. Solar Market Insight™ report, finds that solar power is going to continue its rapid growth in the United States.

Growing numbers of cities and towns are turning to solar-powered road warning and school safety signs to inform the public and save money and energy. In the past year, cities including Baton Rouge, Branson and Kansas City, Mo., and Lyndhurst, Wayne and Ringwood, N.J., have adopted the technology, officials in those municipalities say.

Vietnam ’s first wind power turbine production factory was inaugurated at the Nomura industrial zone in the northern port city of Hai Phong on October 15. The 61 million USD project, invested by the US-based GE group, rolled out over 200 turbines for export in the past five months of test run.

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.

West Virginia has recently discovered, though a project funded by Google, that it is lying on top of a major resource: geothermal power. The finding is even more significant taking in consideration the state’s high dependence on fossil fuels.

The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) approved on October 5 the first large-scale solar energy plants ever to be built on U.S. public lands. The approval of two developments in California grants the U.S.-based companies behind the projects access to almost 6,800 acres of public lands for 30 years to build and operate solar plants. The approved plants could produce up to 754 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy, or enough to power 226,000–566,000 typical U.S. homes. The projects will generate almost 1,000 new jobs.

It seems that we are finding a new use for solar power everyday. Whether its grid-tie applications, lighting, or backup power, solar is rapidly becoming our green energy alternative of choice. Solar is rapidly evolving as the technology and applications for it are changing daily. In this light, here are 3 great contests that are stretching the limits of what solar can be used for and may just change the way we use energy in our everyday lives.