SOLAR ENERGY

Officials with the internet company are discontinuing seven projects including the company's Renewable Energy Cheaper than Coal (RE

The sun's abundant energy, if harvested in space, could provide a cost-effective way to meet global power needs in as little as 30 years with seed money from governments, according to a study by an international scientific group.

The trade dispute is only weeks old, and already U.S. solar industries are splitting into camps.

Fueled by wider Eurozone summit rally, industry-specific news out of Germany and a trader-driven assessment that share prices might have reached technical bottoms, shares in various solar panel manufacturers surged Thursday and Friday. Disappointing industry developments, the possibility of negative surprises coming out of China, and the increasingly unforgiving economics of the business, however, mean the industry could face a very stormy fourth quarter.

Solar panels have, for good or ill, traveled a familiar but slow technological road. But manufacturing advances, booming investment and falling prices could, after nearly six decades, make solar panels the new normal.

The recent bankruptcy of solar energy company Solyndra raises questions regarding its relationship with the U.S. Department of Energy, which allegedly modified a loan agreement to prevent the tettering company from going under. The incident casts a shadow over the solar energy industry, already a controversial field.

A series of emails released by the House Of Representative's Energy and Commerce committee show that Solyndra investors as well as White House officials questioned Solyndra's financial stability as early as December 2009.

Chevron Corp will unveil on Monday a solar oilfield project that has been hit by cost overruns and delays but serves as a showcase for the technology of Chevron-backed solar thermal company BrightSource Energy.

U.S. solar company Calisolar on Wednesday said it would downsize its California solar cell factory, laying off 80 employees, as it focuses on its primary silicon production business.

White House probed for a questionable loan guarantee given to the failed solar energy firm

The FBI raided the home of Solyndra CEO Brian Harrison on Thursday, the same day it searched the solar energy firm's Fremont, Calif., headquarters.

Experts predict the world's cities will double by 2050 -- from 3.3 billion people today, to 6.4 billion in 39 years. Synonymous with this growth is the need for sustainable, reliant resources -- the need for smarter energy. And India is already ahead of the curve.

Solyndra, a solar panel company that was one of the most well-funded start-ups on record, announced it will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy next week.

Scientists say producing hydrogen in the backyard could be possible in future by tweaking an inexpensive semiconductor material, which could be available in commercial store, for generating hydrogen from water by using sunlight.

In a search for inexpensive clean energy, scientists have demonstrated how an inexpensive semiconductor material when tweaked generates hydrogen from water using sunlight. The likely key component in the transition to cleaner energy sources has long been touted to be hydrogen.

A newly-discovered alloy has the potential to revolutionize the renewable energy sector by providing an inexpensive source of hydrogen.

Research funded by the U.S. Department of Energy has demonstrated how to tweak an inexpensive semiconductor material to generate hydrogen from water by using sunlight, a finding that could revolutionize the energy sector.

The United States was a net exporter of solar energy products last year, thanks to strong demand from China, Germany and Japan for U.S.-made polysilicon and capital equipment used to make solar panels.

Chinese photovoltaic equipment maker Beijing Jingyuntong Technology has set an initial public offering price at 50 times its historic earnings, boosted by demand from the country's push for solar energy.

BrightSource Energy Inc on Tuesday said it was now able to store the energy its solar thermal power plants produce, allowing them to function during after the sun sets.

Bangladeshi households using solar power for producing their own electricity has crossed the one million mark up from 5,000 households in 2002.