Virginia reports on South Australian solar households to be paid more for the surplus electricity they generate, a solar powered flood monitoring system that helped kept Queenslanders safe during recent flooding, a proposed 200MW solar updraft tower for Western Australia and REC solar panels trump an extensive field test. For further details of these stories and more, visit www.energymatters.com.au

American Yossi Abramowitz, Kibbutz Ketura member Ed Hoflind, and their US-based partner David Rosenblatt have built Ketura Sun, Israel’s first commercial solar energy field. On these twenty acres of land in the Negev desert, 18500 photo-voltaic plates convert the sun’s energy into electricity. Only 1% of Israel’s electricity currently comes from renewable energy sources, but entrepreneurs like Abramowitz hope to change that. With funding from Siemens, Ketura Sun began operating last June, and it now generates nearly five megawatts for the national grid at peak performance. Although it’s a fraction of Israeli’s daily peak usage of 11000 megawatts, the Arava Power Company plans to build 50 more solar fields in the next five years. This is expected to greatly alleviate Eilat’s dependence on diesel. Israel has a national goal to generate 10% of its electricity using renewable sources by 2020, which will be 2.76 gigawatts. There is also an interim goal of 1.6 gigawatts by 2014, and the government expects 460 megawatts from solar power. Arava has plans for 500 megawatts capacity, and competitors are expected to add a further 1000 megawatts. This puts the country largely on schedule for the 2014 and 2020 targets, although some say the government is not doing enough. However, solar energy is still more expensive than natural gas, and analysts say removing restrictions on solar energy fields could result in price increases for consumers. SOT Arava Power Company President Yossi …

Andrew Swapp is a veteran and shop teacher, who started teaching the first renewable energy class in the State of Utah. Swapp brought his message to Washington where he told lawmakers about the jobs created by wind industry.

This is a video regarding the recent solar energy we are all feeling! You can read the ascension update on our website at www.thefaeriesandangelsmagazine.com You can also read about the recent solar flares at www.spaceweather.com

Virginia reports on the final round of solar schools grant applications opening soon, solar reaching parity with fossil fuels in MENA nations, solar panel recycling to be a multi-billion dollar industry and two new solar farms that will continue producing electricity after dark. For further details of these stories and more, visit www.energymatters.com.au

Power through the roof! New technology in wind energy has arrived. www.vortexwindfunnel.com

Video by Ruth Eglash. The full article at jpost.com: www.jpost.com

www.washingtontimes.com American Wind Energy Association executives Jimmy Glotfelty, Steven R. Trenholm and Denise Bode talk to The Washington Times about tax credits and job loss.

FREMONT (CBS 5) — After filing for bankruptcy last year, Fremont solar company Solyndra still owes American taxpayers half a billion dollars. But CBS 5 caught them destroying millions of dollars worth of parts. At Solyndra’s sprawling complex in Fremont, workers in white jumpsuits were unwrapping brand new glass tubes used in solar panels last week. They are the latest, most cutting-edge solar technology, and they are being thrown into dumpsters. Forklifts brought one pallet after another piled high with the carefully packaged glass. Slowly but surely it all ended up shattered. And it’s not a few loads. Hundreds of thousands of tubes on shrink-wrapped pallets will meet a similar demise. Solyndra paid at least million for the specialized glass. A CBS 5 crew found one piece lying in the parking lot. Solyndra still owes the German company that made the tubes close to another million. So why is a bankrupt company that owes a fortune to creditors, including American taxpayers, throwing away millions of dollars worth of assets? Solyndra is not commenting. But court documents reveal the company received permission from the bankruptcy trustee to abandon the high grade glass, the court agreeing that it was of “inconsequential value” because the cost of storing them exceeds their value. An employee for Heritage Global Partners, the company in charge of selling Solyndra’s assets, told CBS 5 they conducted an exhaustive search for buyers but no one wanted them. But how …

Full article can be seen at jpost.com: www.jpost.com