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 …

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.

Some homeowners are installing wind turbines in their backyards. These windmills are connected to the grid, and deliver renewable, green energy to the owner’s home. MarketWatch’s Stacey Delo talks with San Francisco homeowner Robin Wilson about putting in a wind turbine in an urban area. Video originally aired October 8, 2008. Check out more videos at www.wsj.com

Mike Casey of clean energy public relations firm, Tigercomm, takes Scaling Green’s Communicating Energy lecture series on the road to the Solar Power International 2011 (SPI) conference and trade show in Dallas, Texas. Casey interviews several clean energy industry leaders on the state of the solar industry today and its prospects for the future.

This is part one of a video series for DIY enthusiasts on how to make a vertical axis wind turbine that will turn an axial flux PMA(permanent magnet alternator), which will be featured in another separate series. Message me for a free copy of the plans or send me an email @ xXladXx@live.ca Cheers!

South African infrastructure development company Aveng plans to take up equity participation in a handful of wind and solar energy projects that may be developed as a result of the current tender for the first 3 725 MW of renewables independent power producer (IPP) projects, which closes on November 4.

tinyurl.com Do you want to save thousands off the cost of solar panels? Of course you do! tinyurl.com You can now make solar panels at home! You have probably read about it or seen it on TV, but have you tried it yourself? tinyurl.com If you are interested in learning exactly how to generate power and reduce your bill then this is the perfect resource for you! With the ever increasing costs of living, there is no better time than right now to stop throwing money out the window and start generating our own electricity. tinyurl.com Over the last few years I have figured out how to significantly reduce the cost of solar panels making it more affordable for the average home owner just like you. tinyurl.com Now you can build a single panel or a complete array of panels to power your home for a fraction of retail cost. tinyurl.com I’m going to be your “solar mentor” and show you step-by-step how to make a solar panel. I’ll also teach you my other secrets to renewable energy in an easy to follow format. tinyurl.com Did you know? A basic solar installation from a retailer can take 30 years to pay back and cost you well over 000? tinyurl.com

Former Missouri Governor Bob Holden explains how a growing wind energy industry is good for the future of the Show Me State.

Free Energy From the Sun: THE clean, never ending resource! Onbeautiful Seabrook Island, nestled on the coast just south of Charleston, South Carolina, lies Camp St. Christopher It offers over 300 acres of beach, marsh and maritime forest and multiple facilities including meeting and conference centers, lodging, and worship centers. We’re excited about keeping you up-to-date on our progress and informing you about how this project was made possible. The process began last August when the State Energy Office put out information that there were going to be .9 million available in grants for alternative energy projects for non-profits. As soon as we found out, we immediately started getting in touch with local Charleston non-profit organizations to inform them about the opportunity. When St. Christopher responded about being interested, we setup a meeting for late September 2009 and went out to view the grounds and start planning. The RFP from the State was issued in early September. The government was looking at multiple factors before approving a non-profit like St. Christopher for the grant. These included visibility of project, potential job creation, overall benefit in terms of investment and payback of the project (they needed a minimum return of .50 dollars to spent). The grant writing process was long and hard, but St. Christopher didn’t have to worry about that. SES took care of making sure the grant was completed correctly and on time. Anything we were able …

The solar-powered Solar Impulse plane landed in Brussels late on Friday on its first international flight, 13 hours after leaving Payerne airport in western Switzerland. The landing was delayed by about 40 minutes by strong winds. Take-off on Friday morning had already been delayed by fog. Bertrand Piccard, the man behind the Solar Impulse idea, described the flight as a “historic moment”, and stressed its symbolic importance for flight using renewable energy. Air traffic controllers in Brussels said bring the plane in to land was a “unique challenge.” The plane behaved “like a pedestrian on the motorway round Brussels”. Since it is so light and sensitive to turbulence, it had to keep three times the normal distance from other planes. The pilot André Borschberg was reported to be “tired” after the flight. The plane left Swiss air space at about 10.30, and flew for six hours over France, before reaching Luxembourg. It entered Belgian air space at about 17.30. From Brussels, it will attempt to fly to Paris le Bourget airport in France where it will be shown at the Paris International Airshow in June. Last July Solar Impulse made aviation history by flying through the night on solar power alone.