BUSINESS
January 22, 2010 | By Tiffany Hsu
Utility regulators have approved $350 million in rebates to encourage Californians to install water-heating systems powered by solar energy. The state Public Utilities Commission on Thursday established the California Solar Initiative Thermal Program, which will be funded using $250 million to replace natural-gas-powered water heaters, with $25 million set aside for low-income customers. An additional $100.8 million will be used to swap out water heaters powered by electricity. The rebates could reduce the cost of a solar water heater by 15% to 25%, industry experts said.
WORLD
December 12, 2009 | By Henry Chu
It's another drizzly, dreary day in eastern Germany -- oddly perfect, it turns out, for demonstrating the potential of solar energy. Despite the rain, hundreds of thousands of photovoltaic panels still gaze skyward here at the country's biggest solar farm, like a field of huge silvery sunflowers planted in neat rows marching toward the horizon. Raindrops splotch their faces, and the steely gray clouds curtain the sun. But the panels remain busy absorbing solar radiation to convert into electricity.
REAL ESTATE
June 3, 2007 | Michelle Hofmann, Special to The Times
AT first glance, Paul Rupert's Livermore, Calif., home looks like any other residence. But the 2,900-square-foot house has a powerful secret. Last year, Rupert installed a solar energy system that cut his monthly electricity and heating bill from $400 to $25. Rather than use traditional photovoltaic panels that mount to a rack and are sometimes considered unsightly, Rupert choose integrated solar roof tiles that interlock with his new concrete roof tiles and lie flat.
BUSINESS
April 2, 1985 | JAMES QUINN, Times Staff Writer
Arco Solar Inc. introduced its latest solar electricity-generating device in December to raves from industry analysts. Brisk sales of its Genesis module, which is powerful enough to run a small television set, already have solidified the Chatsworth company's position as the industry sales leader. Yet there is a new, cautious tone at Arco Solar, a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlantic Richfield Co., as well as in the entire photovoltaic industry.
BUSINESS
November 10, 2007 | Elizabeth Douglass, Times Staff Writer
Harold Hay wants to help the world save itself, but he's running out of time. Forty years ago, Hay invented a simple, inexpensive way to heat and cool a home using the sun's rays, but without the panels and wiring that come with conventional solar energy systems. He's been pushing for its adoption ever since, trying to find footing in each of the solar industry's last three boom-and-bust cycles.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
April 23, 2012 | By Catherine Saillant, Los Angeles Times
Storm clouds hovered over the San Fernando Valley, but businessman Jack Engel was smiling as he pointed to a row of solar inverters at one of two commercial warehouses he owns in Sun Valley. Power was being generated despite the weather, no problem. His problem, he said, has been the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. "I like the idea of solar, but unfortunately my experience is that the DWP doesn't support it," said Engel, who has run a small manufacturing firm on Pendleton Street for four decades.