THE only hurdle to the large-scale use of solar energy is the state of the technology. In terms of dollar-per-watt of electricity, traditional fossil fuels are still much more efficient. But that is rapidly changing, and what was at $3-$4 per watt even a few years ago is at the $2 per watt level, with the use of so-called

THE Chennai Corporation, as part of its cost-cutting measures, has planned to install more solar-powered streetlights in narrow streets and slum areas in the city According to May . or M Subramanian, the Corporation spent nearly Rs 18 crore a year for powering streetlights. By introducing solar-powered lights, the Corporation could reduce its expenditure, he added. The Mayor on Saturday inaugurated 60 solar-powered streetlights of 18 watts capacity, built at a cost of Rs 11 lakh, at a slum dwellings near Tod Hunter Nagar in Ward-139.

Patrick Getreide is an entrepreneur with a big ambition: to build the world's greenest office block. Energy Plus, his projected 70,000 square metre Paris block, will be carbon neutral and generate more electricity than it uses, saving tenants

The UK government has set a target for every new home to be "zero-carbon' by 2016. Given that it intends the industry to be building 240,000 new homes a year by that date, it is an ambitious target

Credit Suisse-backed private equity firm Hudson Clean Energy Partners will focus on investments in wind, solar and biofuels, with deal sizes averaging about $100 million, its managing partners said Wednesday. John Cavalier, former head of Credit Suisse's renewable energy investment banking practice, and Neil Auerbach, Hudson's founder, said in an interview that the firm was focused on companies with commercialized technology, or those that are on the verge of commercialization.

People have seen a change in their quality of life, thanks to the solar lighting system. "My son stays up later than all of us, studying through the night," says Guddi Devi, a resident of Dabkan- Kartikeya Singh, Alwar It is a simple device but it has shrunk the nights in Rajasthan's countryside. Over the past decade, thousands of families in the state's remote villages, unconnected with the grid, have installed solar lighting systems at their homes, which harness solar energy to generate electricity.

M.T.A. to Tap Solar Power for Electricity at Some Buildings By WILLIAM NEUMAN Published: April 15, 2008 The Metropolitan Transportation Authority said on Monday that it would install solar panels on about a dozen bus depots, warehouses and other facilities with large roofs as part of a push to make its operations more environmentally friendly.

South Africa has launched a pilot project to introduce solar water heaters. With an objective to exploit one of its abundant resources, sunshine, the project aims to create awareness and

Chances are you've heard of hybrids and biofuels, but what about oil-producing yeast and turbinelike buoys that transform ocean waves into electricity?