Weeklong campaign to raise public awareness of Solar Energy in Europe.
May 15-22, 2009, in 16 European Countries.


Per “2nd European Solar Days: Europe celebrates the energy from the sun 15-22 May 2009”:

the European Solar Days aim to promote the use of the sun as an energy source for all solar applications, Solar Thermal and Photovoltaic, throughout Europe.

Some half million people are expected to participate in over 7000 Events (by country) for European Solar Days (http://www.solardays.eu). Solar stakeholders initiate and organize promotional events ranging from street fairs, educational events, or solar technology exhibitions, to whatever is dreamed up. Each country may participate in Solar Days for the entire period or overlap their solar event plans with the campaign.

Solar Days originated in Austria with the “Tag der Sonne” or Day of the Sun in 2002 followed by Switzerland and Germany.

Though Herr Pöttering is no Obama, this official European Solar Days YouTube video is in German with English subtitles:

Greetings from the President of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Pöttering, on the occasion of the European Solar Days, 15-22 May 2009.

European Solar Days have been coordinated by ESTIF (European Solar Thermal Industry Federation) with EPIA (European Photovoltaic Industry Association) and numerous Partners.

Further European Solar Days resources include a Presentation, Press Information, and an ESTIF Solar Thermal Heating and Cooling presentation.

I was reminded about European Solar Days by this Photovoltaik (http://twitter.com/photovoltaik) tweet:

Solarpraxis AG: Solarkampagne startet in ganz Europa : Eine Woche lang wird es europaweit Veranst.. http://bit.ly/39Qxb about 10 hours ago from twitterfeed

As I mentioned to a new acquaintance at the Computer History Museum’s IC at fifty event, “The Planar Integrated Circuit: Building the Future at Fairchild Semiconductor,” I’ve been feeling like the PV Doctor Doom as of late. I just had to post about Solar Days to restore the balance.

Please be sure to vote in the latest PV POLL located in the sidebar:

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View the online presence of Solar Industry Magazine although they prefer pushing their unsustainable print edition via snail mail.

Last summer the economics of solar in New York City improved considerably when the state net-metering law was expanded to include large commercial buildings. Net-metering is the arrangement that allows solar system owners to build up credit for any excess electricity that they produce during the day with which they can offset their nightly demand. Solar One worked with a coalition of groups statewide to bring about this critical change in Policy last June.

This excellent short video produced by the Network for New Energy Choices (NNEC), a New York-based policy think tank, gives a firsthand account of the earliest consequences of the new law. It documents the first commercial net-metered solar system in New York City – the ‘Monti’ building at 925 Bergen Street in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. The four minute film includes interviews with the building’s owner as well as the project’s contractor David Buckner, president of Solar Energy Systems.

Solar Power is Right Here! is the first in an ongoing series that NNEC will produce regularly. Future films will investigate clean energy case studies that are happening on the ground (and roofs) of New York City. Solar One is excited to serve as an adviser to the project, and looks forward to future collaborations.

SAN FRANCISCO, May 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) announced today that it has entered into a series of contracts with BrightSource Energy, Inc. for a record total of 1,310 megawatts (MW) of solar thermal power. These power purchase agreements, covering seven projects, supersede the agreements PG&E executed with BrightSource in April 2008 for up to 900 MW of solar thermal power.

The first of these solar power plants, sized at 110 MW and located in Ivanpah, Calif., is contracted to begin operation in 2012. BrightSource will build and place in commercial operation each of its plants as quickly as permitting and infrastructure allow. All seven projects are expected to produce 3,666 gigawatt-hours of power each year, equal to the annual consumption of about 530,000 average homes.

“The solar thermal projects announced today exemplify PG&E’s commitment to increasing the amount of renewable energy we provide to our customers throughout northern and central California,” said John Conway, senior vice president of energy supply for PG&E. “Through these agreements with BrightSource, we can harness the sun’s energy to meet our customers’ power requirements when they need it most – during hot summer days.”

“Today’s agreements reflect the technological milestones that the BrightSource Energy team has achieved over the past year,” said John Woolard, CEO of BrightSource Energy. “Our technology is setting the bar for efficient production of solar energy. We’re thrilled by the opportunity to help PG&E and other leaders bring energy customers more clean and reliable solar energy.”

Since 2002, PG&E has entered into contracts for more than 20 percent of its future electric power deliveries from renewable sources. On average, half of the electricity PG&E delivers to its customers comes from carbon-free generating sources, making the company’s energy some of the cleanest in the nation.

IASHAN, China, May 13 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ — ReneSola Ltd (“ReneSola” or the “Company”) (NYSE: SOL) (AIM: SOLA), a leading global manufacturer of solar wafers, today announced that it has obtained approval from Zhejiang’s provincial government to pioneer a five megawatt (“MW”) building integrated photovoltaic (“BIPV”) rooftop project in China’s Zhejiang province. The BIPV rooftop project has a total planned area of 80,400 square meters on several government buildings in Jiashan County, Zhejiang province and is subject to final approval by the Ministries of Finance and Housing and Urban-Rural Development.

The BIPV rooftop project has a budgeted total investment of RMB160 million (approximately US$23.4 million) and will be partially funded through the RMB15 per watt subsidy announced by China’s Ministry of Finance in March of 2009. The local government may provide additional subsidies and ReneSola has reached a tentative partnership agreement with a local bank to provide additional funding.

“We are very pleased to have been approved by the Zhejiang government to spearhead the province’s first BIPV project,” commented Mr. Xianshou Li, ReneSola’s chief executive officer. “This project, combined with national and local subsidies and the Zhejiang government’s recently announced plans to increase solar energy-related projects to 50MW by 2012, demonstrates the increasing importance both national and local governments are placing in developing clean, renewable solar energy. As the cost of solar energy continues to decline and approach grid parity, we are confident that our low-cost manufacturing and position as one of the world’s leading manufacturers of solar wafers will provide us with new opportunities to partner with local governments in developing sustainable solar projects.”

Jeff Bingaman, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, introduced a bill aimed at modernizing the U.S. electricity grid. The proposal calls for reforms to the primary roadblocks the nation faces in restructuring the energy grid, including how it plans, pays for and sites needed transmission projects.

Last year, SEPA conducted its first annual market survey of electric utilities based on 2007 solar installation data. The resulting rankings report garnered widespread media and industry attention. We anticipate that this year’s survey, based on the 2008 Utility Solar Electricity Survey completed in April 2009, will be even more noteworthy. You can be among the very first to learn the results by attending this breaking news webinar and report release.