No matter how hard President Obama may try, the Solyndra debacle -- and its $529 million taxpayer-backed price tag -- just won't go away.
For 585 days, Swiss adventurer Raphael Domjan braved storms, pirates and cloudy skies in an attempt to circumnavigate the globe on a boat propelled by nothing but sun beams.
Federal support for renewable power helped the United States reclaim from China the title of the world's biggest investor in clean energy, researchers for the nonprofit Pew Charitable Trusts reported Wednesday.
The Obama administration turned over 432 pages of e-mail communications and other documents Friday to congressional Republicans investigating the collapse of the solar energy firm Solyndra, the White House said.
Shares of solar power company First Solar dropped in after-hours trading Tuesday following disappointing quarterly results. The Arizona-based company, a leading maker of thin-film solar panels and a developer of solar power projects, posted net sales of $660 million and earnings per share of $1.26, excluding certain charges. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected the firm to post earnings of $1.54 per share on $782 million in revenue for the quarter ended in December. When taking into account costs incurred during the quarter from factors including restructuring and loss of goodwill, First Solar sustained a net loss of $413 million. "First Solar's performance in the quarter was impacted by an aggressive competitive environment, an uncertain regulatory environment, warranty-related charges, and restructuring costs incurred to help position our business for the future," Mike Ahearn, First Solar's chairman and interim CEO, said in a statement. The company also lowered
Tune in to CNN's "The Next List" at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday to see a 30-minute profile of Yves Behar. For extended coverage of innovators and visionaries, check out The Next List's What's Next blog.
Pay-as-you-go products may be synonymous with mobile phones but a solar energy service in Africa is harnessing the popular business model to bring affordable electricity to the continent's remotest communities.
Shares in First Solar fell nearly 9% Friday after the solar panel maker and project developer reported a delay in funding for a massive solar farm the company is building near Los Angeles.
Electric car battery maker Ener1 filed for bankruptcy Thursday, three years after receiving a $118.5 million grant from the U.S. government.
During the summer months, in the arid, subtropical coastal plains of the United Arab Emirates, temperatures rise to 40 Celsius plus -- while average rainfall is a desolate four inches a year.
When the sun goes down over large swathes of the developing world, the 1.3 billion people currently living without access to an electricity connection are plunged into darkness.
Shares in solar power company First Solar fell over 20% in early trading Wednesday after the firm lowered its sales forecast for 2011.
Warren Buffett's utility company is making a big buy in the turmoil-filled solar energy market.
It can't be very hard for Bertrand Piccard to explain to his family why he wants to fly around the world with only sunlight for fuel.
The once high-flying solar power sector is headed for tough times, as a combination of slack demand and massive oversupply is leading to plummeting prices and profits for solar panel makers.
With its jumbo-sized wings laden with photovoltaic solar cells, the Solar Impulse is a revolutionary green plane.
The United States may be known as the Saudi Arabia of coal thanks to its large deposits. But under an expected investment push, Saudi Arabia could soon become the Saudi Arabia of solar power.
Energy Secretary Steven Chu made no apologies Thursday for the $535 million loan guarantee the government made to now bankrupt solar panel maker Solyndra, saying the company's collapse was unforeseeable and politics did not play a role in the approval process.
The U.S. Commerce Department said Wednesday that it would investigate allegations that Chinese solar cell manufacturers are illegally "dumping" their products on the American market at excessively cheap prices.
GOP lawmakers had a lot to say during a hearing for the solar energy company Solyndra. CNN's Lisa Sylvester reports.
SolarReserve got $200 million more than Solyndra from the government, but insists they're different. Casey Wian reports.
Renewable energy is generating a lot of political heat. The bankruptcy of solar-panel manufacturer Solyndra, after a half billion dollar loan from the Federal government, has set off a hot debate on Capitol Hill. And a group of American-based solar companies are demanding 100% tariffs on imports of Chinese solar panels. They charge that China unfairly competes by subsidizing the Chinese industry, which Beijing resolutely denies.
Despite the Solyndra collapse that has tarnished solar energy, the industry has grown into "a major economic force" with a job base that expanded 6.8% the past year, nearly 10 times faster than the overall economy, industry representatives said Tuesday.
You don't have to be a science major to know that heat rises: Just step into an attic on a hot summer day. But what you might not know is that this basic scientific reality could also help create clean energy for entire cities.
See how hot air channeled through turbines and up a tall chimney could potentially create a lot of electricity.
Jobs and energy prices will ultimately push the Obama administration to approve the controversial Keystone pipeline, analysts say, despite the protests and environmental concerns over expanding production from Canada's oil sands.
Work on the world's largest solar bridge has started in central London.
The world's largest solar-powered boat sails into Hong Kong's Victoria Harbor. CNN's Anna Coren meets the crew.
She's traveled more than 35,000 kilometers hugging the equator, powered entirely by the sun.
A new solar plant in southern Spain can produce electricity at all hours, even when the sun goes down. Al Goodman reports
Typical solar power plants stop working when the sun sets, but a new one in southern Spain, called Gemasolar, can stay awake all night.
During the weeks of nasty congressional hearings and even nastier columns in the press since solar panel maker Solyndra declared bankruptcy, it's been widely assumed that the debacle cost the government over half a billion dollars.
Google announced another investment in companies selling rooftop solar panels Tuesday, putting $75 million into a fund that solar contractors and designers can draw on to finance solar systems for homeowners.
CNNMoney: The Solyndra curseupdated: Tue Sep 27 2011 21:49:00
To say that the bankruptcy of government-backed solar energy firm Solyndra is a blow to the industry is a massive understatement.
Lawmakers at a hearing on Capitol Hill Friday pledged to press ahead with their investigation into bankrupt solar panel maker Solyndra, despite silence from company executives who invoked the fifth amendment.
At least three other government-backed solar firms face the same challenging market conditions that brought down Solyndra, the now bankrupt solar panel maker that could cost taxpayers over $500 million.
Top Solyndra executives are not going to testify before Congress about the federal government's backing of the failed solar power company.
Researchers at Intel debuted an experimental processor at the company's developer forum this week, which could lead to devices with significantly lower energy consumption.
Some California school districts will see multi-million-dollar savings thanks to solar power. CNN's Casey Wian reports.
California schools are hurting. Budget cuts in the millions are causing school districts to find ways to save cash.
The controversial Energy Department loan program that backed a now-bankrupt solar panel maker could nearly double in size by the month's end.
Republicans scrutinize e-mails surrounding bankrupt solar panel plant Solyndra. Anderson Cooper takes a closer look.
Federal analysts looking at a proposed loan to a solar energy company in 2009 warned then of possible problems, as well as pressure from the White House to speed up a decision, according to a memorandum released Wednesday by a House committee.
Until recently, few outside the solar power industry had even heard of Solyndra Inc.
FBI agents, acting with inspectors from the Department of Energy, raided the offices of solar panel maker Solyndra on Thursday, just days after the DOE-backed company filed for bankruptcy.
FBI agents on Thursday were searching the offices of a California solar energy company touted by President Barack Obama that recently halted operations, FBI spokesman Peter Lee confirmed to CNN.
Residential solar power provider SolarCity and the U.S. government announced a deal Wednesday to put solar panels on military housing units, a move that could double the number of rooftop solar power installed in the United States.
If you've ever thought, "One day, I'm going to put in a solar energy system," today might be the day.
One out of eight U.S. Army casualties in Iraq was the result of protecting fuel convoys.
NASA scientists are slightly more than a week away from launching a Jupiter mission they say will unlock key secrets of how our solar system was formed.
Creators of the fuel-free plane Solar Impulse want more people to follow their example and use renewable energy.
Bank of America has secured a federal loan guarantee that will allow it to finance the world's largest single effort to put solar panels on rooftops, the company said Wednesday.
Google and rooftop solar power company SolarCity announced a $280 million investment deal Tuesday, the largest such deal for home-based solar power systems in the United States.
SunRun chief executive Edward Fenster has an enviable kind of problem.
CNNMoney: War veterans go solarupdated: Thu Apr 14 2011 14:30:00
During the Iraq war it was combat medic Patrick Padilla's job to go out and retrieve the dead and wounded.
From luxury cars to solar powered taxis, "green" vehicles are charging ahead in the auto market. CNN's Ayeesha Durgahee reports.
CNN's Sara Sidner reports how Bangladeshi's are changing lives and increasing profits with the use of solar power.
Using existing technologies, the world could convert almost entirely to green power by mid-century � and it wouldn't cost much more than people now spend on energy, says a new analysis of global energy use.
It seems callous to try and look for investing opportunities in the wake of a disaster as colossal as the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
Five Congolese women have travelled to India to take part in an initiative to become experts in life saving solar technology.
Test your solar powers with our quiz on the sun's energy, solar panels and more.
Cheaper and lighter compared to its more expensive, cumbersome silicon cousin, plastic photovoltaics (PV) could herald a revolution in the solar power market, according to a UK solar panel expert.
The mayors of New York and Atlanta, Georgia, suffered stinging criticism for their handling of recent winter storms, but in the near future, technology could clear city streets of ice and snow -- by simply melting it away.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg says the lessons learned from New York's last snowfall pushed the city into more action.
It turns out that subsidies -- not the sun -- are what really drive solar projects. Photovoltaic plants simply aren't cost-efficient without tax breaks and other government carrots. California leads the country in photovoltaic projects, thanks to a 2006 act that offers rebates to homeowners and businesses that go green. But the Northeast is also, somewhat counterintuitively, a big solar player. In 2009, 10 Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states formed an alliance that aims to cut carbon dioxide emissions 10% by 2018. New Jersey is the fastest-growing state in terms of solar development. The sunny South has meaningful solar projects only in Florida, North Carolina, and Texas. The same solar-in-the-shade phenomenon is happening globally: Germany and Japan -- not exactly hotbeds of, well, heat -- lead the world in photovoltaic projects. And until solar power is as cheap to produce as fuels like gas and coal, it is likely there will continue to be nothing new under the sun.
A solar-powered car which produces the same amount of energy as a household toaster has smashed the world speed record for a solar vehicle.
Being environmentally friendly is the de facto mindset of most people today. Many cities provide recycling bins for their residents. Gym goers carry around reusable water bottles instead of disposable plastic ones. Businesses proudly tell their customers that their shopping bags are made from 100 percent recycled material. As a whole, we've all gone green.
A lot of travelers probably had to get out the atlas Thursday when Qatar was named host of the 2022 World Cup tournament. A little-known destination, Qatar is a small Middle-Eastern nation with a population of less than 1 million. It borders the Persian Gulf and Saudi Arabia and promises hot and humid summers.
MME talks to Qatar's Deputy Prime Minister and Energy Minister about the country's rapid rate of growth.
Twenty miles south of Kokomo, Ind., sits an empty, 800,000-square foot factory built in the late stages of the now-dissolved DaimlerChrysler union. The factory, a victim of the breakup, never produced a single thing.
In recent years Portugal has been harnessing its enviable southern European climate to benefit more than just its tourism industry.
Solar panels and a solar hot water heater will soon be installed at the White House, Energy Secretary Steven Chu said Tuesday.
Putting thousands of jellyfish in a blender to make a smoothie sounds like the start of bad joke. In fact, it's one way to source ingredients for a new generation of solar power solutions that could aid medical science and offer cheap energy.
Last week I offered some eco-friendly cell phone tips for people looking to save energy when they communicate.
Before you complain again about living in 2010 and not yet having a jetpack to fly you to work, consider taking a trip to Mexico. There's only one person in the world who produces a complete flying rocket belt from start to finish -- from the parts to the fuel that powers it. His name is Juan Manuel Lozano and he lives in Cuernavaca, a city two hours south of Mexico City.
In rural communities of Africa -- where more than 95 percent of homes have no access to electricity -- solar energy has the power to transform lives.
If you're looking for the future of American business, our annual list of the 100 Fastest-Growing Companies isn't a bad place to start. Of course, as they say on Wall Street, past performance doesn't guarantee future results. But every year companies like Genentech and Starbucks appear on this list before moving on to bigger and better things.
Imagine outfitting your house with small, affordable solar panels that plug into a socket and pump power into your electrical system instead of taking it out.
The Pocono Raceway turns on its new 3-megawatt solar farm, the first sports facility in the U.S. to use solar energy.
Forget about Philadelphia -- Brandon Igdalsky hopes it's always sunny in the Poconos.
A solar-powered aircraft, which a team hopes will one day circle the globe, completed a 26-hour test flight in Switzerland at 9 a.m. (3 a.m. ET) Thursday.
A solar-powered aircraft which one day hopes to circle the globe has started a 24-hour test flight in Switzerland.
A professor who invented low-cost solar cells that may be incorporated into energy-producing windows has been awarded the Millennium Technology Prize.
Hewlett-Packard says it's developing a next-generation wristwatch for the U.S. military.
"The sunshine bores the daylights out of me."
Solar power is expected to provide almost a quarter of the world's electricity supplies by 2050, according to a new report published by the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have successfully coated paper with a solar cell, part of a suite of research projects aimed at energy breakthroughs.
The Holy Grail of modern architecture is to design a zero-energy building, or ZEB.
The villagers' faces light up as Evans Wadongo arrives. Men, women and children sing and gather around as he shows how his invention -- a solar-powered LED lantern -- will soon light up their homes.
Evans Wadongo invented a way for rural families in Kenya to replace smoky kerosene and firelight with solar power.
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