California Renewable Portfolio Standard to 33% by 2020

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger this week signed an Executive Order (EO) directing the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to adopt regulations increasing California’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) to 33 percent by 2020 - first established by the Governor’s directive last year.

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Solarize Your Home Los Angeles!

With the Polar Ice Caps melting faster than estimated, the WWF has put up a really clever installation on the steps of a Berlin square that anthropomorphizes ice block sculptures. The ice carved out to look like simple humans melted away in the hot summer sun in a statement speaking to the frailty of nature and the human impact thereof. Great stuff!

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Your Green Light

What switched on your personal green light? What made you aware of the climate crisis and called your attention? Did you read some bad news? What was it that switched on the green light in your head? Share your inspiration. Don't be shy. Be a participant instead of a spectator. So what are you going to do to get involved?

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Solar Powered Skins for iPhones and iPod Touch

It looks like Apple gadget users will have a new way to charge up iPods and iPhone devices with the sun, thanks to the latest from NovoThink. The company has released the Solar Surge, a skin with an integrated solar cell capable of charging the Apple devices on 100% solar power.

As for charging capabilities, the company states that 2 hours of direct solar exposure provides about 30 minutes of talk time on a 3G network or 60 minutes of talk time on a 2G network, and the skin's battery stores 120% capacity of iPhone 3G.

It also comes with a Solar Planner application that helps you assess what your solar needs are to fully charge up your gadget, so you eliminate the guessing for how many hours of daylight you need to get full bars.

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One more handy way to get your gadgets off grid - or at least it will be. It isn't quite on the market yet. But at the end of this month, you'll be able to pick it up for $70. A little pricey, yes, but not too bad for a solar charger made specifically to fit and protect as well as power your device.

More Sun for Less: Solar Panels Drop in Price

For solar shoppers these days, the price is right. Panel prices have fallen about 40 percent since the middle of last year, driven down partly by an increase in the supply of a crucial ingredient for panels, according to analysts at the investment bank Piper Jaffray. The price drops — coupled with recently expanded federal incentives — could shrink the time it takes solar panels to pay for themselves to 16 years, from 22 years, in places with high electricity costs. That calculation does not include state rebates, which can sometimes improve the economics considerably.

The smaller residential sector continues to grow: In California, by far the largest market in the country, residential installations in July were up by more than 50 percent compared with a year earlier. With prices dropping, that momentum looks poised to continue.

Mr. Hare in Texas cited the larger tax credit, which sliced about $23,000 from his $77,000 bill, as a major factor in his decision to go solar, in addition to the falling panel prices. Sensing a good deal, he even got a larger system than he had originally planned — going from 42 panels to 64. The electric bill on his 7,000-square-foot house and garage has typically run $600 to $700 a month, but he expects a reduction of 40 to 80 percent.

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Danita Hardy, a homeowner in Phoenix, had been put off by the prospect of spending $20,000 for solar panels — until she spotted a news item about a company called SunRun that takes on the upfront expense and recovers its costs gradually, in a lease deal, essentially through the savings in a homeowner’s electric bill.

“I thought well, heck, this might be doable,” said Ms. Hardy, who wound up having to lay out only $800 to get 15 solar panels for her home.

How Many Solar Panels Would It Take to Power The Entire World?

Just 496,905 square kilometers. That's really nothing compared to the total world area: Less than the surface of Spain (504,030 square kilometers) covered with solar panels, distributed across deserts and areas with almost 24/7 sun, all year around.

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