The U.S. Department of Commerce on Thursday announced stiff anti-dumping tariffs of around 31 percent on crystalline silicon solar panels imported from China, leading to a new round of concerns on how the duties will impact the growing American solar industry.

Despite 2011 having been a particularly challenging year for PV cell and module manufacturers, new small-scale module manufacturing facilities continue to be implemented, especially in emerging markets. In some cases, these companies/facilities are either aligned to local government policies or are implemented purely as diversification strategies. Other examples are joint-ventures between private and government entities. Such JV's are intended to represent "national" centers-of-excellence to serve domestic or regional market demand.

Solar manufacturers and installers face the same challenge as many business owners: How can a company make time for media outreach as part of their overall marketing strategy? With so many other tasks vying for our time and dollars, making connections with the media, which is one of the best forms of free publicity, is often forgotten about. Why?

They say nothing can get done in Washington, D.C. on the issue of clean energy, which has become a political lightening rod over the last year. With Congress at a high watermark of partisanship, accusations abound on Capitol Hill that American energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies and the policies that support them are job killers and a money-wasting hoax on taxpayers. And yet, there's reason for optimism about energy innovation in this country. Why? Because the most powerful force in the world, the U.S. military, is mobilizing on a clean energy mission — and I believe they're going to win this war.

Another year, another wringing of the hands over tax credits and incentives for clean technology. Lobbyists and vendors in the U.S. are once again singing the blues, calling for continued and expanding government investments in clean technology. At the same time, political challengers continue their Solyndra hootenanny, raking the curren

Sinking revenues and shrinking policy support may be causing a bit of a haze on the renewable energy horizon, but there's plenty of sunshine trying to peek through if you look hard enough.

Senators Bob Smith and Stephen Sweeny recently introduced New Jersey Senate Bill 1925. The bill proposes to amend New Jersey's current solar Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) requirements in an attempt to help stabilize the oversupplied SREC market. The bill is currently in draft form and is scheduled to be heard

Just one month before the biennial Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) in Hawaii, the world's largest international maritime exercise, the biofuels industry has encountered a possible roadblock. The House Armed Services Committee issued its report on next year's Pentagon budget, which inclues a measure that would exclude the development and purchase of biofuels that cost more than traditional fossil fuels.

The European shake-up continues as Germany's powerful Minister of the Environment Norbert Roettgen was fired Thursday as Chancellor Angela Merkel looks to hold onto power following her party's regional election loss over the weekend.

A landmark 2009 study, conducted by researchers at Iowa State's Center for Agricultural and Rural Development, and updated this week for impacts through 2011, found that US ethanol production reduced wholesale gasoline prices by an average of $1.09 per gallon, in 2011.

As ancient as the earth itself, unharnessed geothermal energy most often bubbles to the surface in geological hot spots long known for geysers and naturally-boiling mud pots.

Two high-profile Senate Democrats introduced a proposal Tuesday that if passed would set domestic requirements on solar installations looking to qualify for the 30 percent Investment Tax Credit.

Lime Energy (NASD:LIME) has been a star in the very competitive energy services space recently because of its ability to maintain margins in what has been a very competitive environment. While competing small efficiency companies have been closing up shop in the Northeast, Lime has been growing revenues at 30 percent a year, while maintaining a gross margin of around 20 percent.

Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and Iowa State University discovered a family of plant proteins that play a role in the production of seed oils, substances important for animal and human nutrition, biorenewable chemicals and biofuels.

Think of it like Costco or Sam's Club for purchasing solar photovolatics (PV). Some savvy folks in Oregon thought it would be a great idea to buy PV in bulk for their neighborhood to get a big volume discount and share the savings with neighbors.

Seven months after a trade investigation was launched, American solar companies and Chinese solar manufacturers will finally get a clear picture of the challenges ahead.

While North America continues to dawdle on the road to the renewable revolution, the conservative, oil-rich Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has proposed one of the most sweeping and massive moves to renewable energy on the planet.

Free Hot Water often highlights California’s generous subsidies for solar hot water installations, but it’s not the only state committed to solar water heating. Arizona’s utilities all offer different — but valuable — solar hot water incentives for both residential and commercial installations. Of course, these are

As several debt-addled European Union nations continue to push forward with austerity measures, recent developments show that the political pendulum may be shifting away from drastic spending cuts. If nothing else, those cuts aren't coming easily and the fallout could have drastic implications for renewable energy generation across much of the region.

Sovello has joined a growing roster of solar companies that have filed for bankruptcy over the past year, the German company said Monday. The announcement came after another German solar manufacturer, Soltecture, filed for bankruptcy last Wednesday.