News

The world's first solar-powered plane has announced its first U.S. trip. It will take off from NASA's Mountain View, CA campus and fly to airports in Phoenix, Dallas, Washington, D.C., and New York. Wall Street Journal reports:

First Solar (FSLR) saw a jump in stock prices after the company announced full-year 2013 guidance, as well as the acquisition of TetraSun. The company also announced of their financial targets through 2015. In 2013, First Solar projects it will sell between 1.6 and 1.8 gigawatts of solar systems, and the company expects to generate between $0.8 and $1 billion in operating cash flow. The Motley Fool wonders, "Did First Solar just upend the solar industry?":

When Governor Beebe signs SB640 into law, Arkansas will be the twenty-ninth state to authorize Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing programs. This program authorizes the creation of energy improvement districts to fund loans for efficiency projects. The loans are then repaid via a special assessment on the property. Because the loan payments are generally lower than the total energy savings from the installed efficiency, businesses often make money off the deal. Arkansas Senator David Johnson said:

Tesla announced Monday that first quarter sales of the Model S exceeded expectations and the company expects to turn a profit. Tesla expected to sell 4,500 Model S cars, but sales as of April 1 exceeded 4,750 automobiles.

Apple Inc. announced this week that fully three-quarters of the energy it consumes in its data centers and corporate facilities comes from advanced energy sources. The company committed to using renewable energy for its facilities in North Carolina, and eventually Apple would like to be powered entirely by advanced energy. Fox News reports:

San Antonio's CPS Energy, which is the nation's largest municipal utility, has announced a partnership with Silver Spring Networks to deploy smart grid technologies to its 740,000 electric and gas customers. Initially, CPS is implementing features like distribution automation and advanced metering, but the utility is laying the groundwork to be able to implement further smart grid features in the future. GovTech reports:

SolarCity revealed plans to expand from California into Nevada. The company already has plans underway to build more than 100 solar projects in partnership with Shea Homes. Power Engineering reports:

The U.S. Department of Energy has announced a new Clean Energy Manufacturing Initiative, which is focused on boosting American manufacturing of cleaner energy technologies and boosting U.S. competitiveness through major improvements in manufacturing energy productivity. Advanced Energy Economy has issued the following statement on the new program: 

Sapphire Energy announced that it has entered into an agreement with Tesoro Refining and Marketing Company. LLC to purchase Sapphire's Green Crude. The biofuels will come from Sapphire's refining facility in New Mexico. The Green Crude is produced by converting wet algae to crude oil. MarketWatch reports:

Orlando, Florida is offering its residents the opportunity to back a community solar project in return for rates locked in for the next quarter century. The typical electricity bill in Orlando currently stands somewhere between 10 and 12 cents per kilowatt-hour. The community solar project is offering a rate of 13 cents per kilowatt-hour that is locked in for the next 25 years and offers the option of solar power to communities that wouldn't otherwise be able to invest in solar-- people who rent their homes or simply live in an area with too many trees. The Orlando Utilities Commission expects its solar array to generate about 540,000 kilowatt-hours per year.