Siemens Government Technologies announced that the U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center has awarded a $16.8 million task order to implement energy conservation upgrades, including a 4.465 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) power generating system — the largest to date for the U.S. Army — at the White Sands Missile Range.

IKEA has powered up the solar energy system installed at its store in Portland, Ore. The 62,500-square-foot solar photovoltaic (PV) array is a 497.3-kW system, built with 2,072 panels. IKEA Portland’s system will produce approximately 568,900 kWh of clean electricity annually.

While progress is being made on renewable energy, most clean energy technologies are not being deployed very quickly, according to a report from the International Energy Agency (IEA). The report notes that many technologies with great potential for energy and emissions savings are making halting progress at best.

Solar research has focused on improving the performance of solar photovoltaic cells and bringing down their cost. But very little attention has been paid to the best ways of arranging those cells. Now, a team of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers has come up with a different approach.

The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation has inaugurated a new 250-kilowatt solar photovoltaic (PV) power system donated by First Solar Inc., which will help power the historic Taliesin West campus. The commissioning marks the successful completion of the first phase of the Energizing Taliesin West™ initiative.

IKEA announced that it has plugged-in the solar energy system installed at its Detroit-area store in Canton, Mich. — what the company says is the state’s largest such solar photovoltaic (PV) array.

Onset, a leading supplier of data loggers, has announced the installation of a new 225-kW, roof-mounted solar photovoltaic system at the company’s Cape Cod, Mass., headquarters facility. The 936-panel system is expected to produce nearly 50 percent of the company’s annual electricity usage.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has announced that $107 million is available for a major solar power incentive program that will increase the amount of electricity generated by photovoltaic (PV) systems throughout New York. Proposals are sought for solar PV systems to be installed at larger commercial and industrial sites.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo approved legislation promoting the growth of solar energy in the state. The package of bills, all related to tax exemption of solar projects in New York, was applauded by the Solar Energy Industries Association® (SEIA®).

Distributed renewable energy installations today represent far less than one percent of total worldwide electricity generating capacity, but according to a new report from Pike Research, a part of Navigant’s Energy Practice, they will expand rapidly over the next half-decade.