Abengoa Solar and Abound Solar Manufacturing will get the money to work on multiple solar plants in Arizona, Colorado and Indiana.

on the web: Abengoa and ABound Solar

via NYT: There are questions about whether the efficiency efforts will work as designed. “Most of what we put in our buildings is tried and true,” said Mr. Peck, of the G.S.A. “On some part of it, we’re prepared to be a beta tester. My dream,” Mr. Peck added, “is we will find a technology that needs a test and we will make the market for it.”

Yes, the GSA is going to take a risk and attempt a vertical farming solution, mostly for the heating and cooling benefits:

As part of a $133 million renovation, the General Services Administration is planning to cultivate “vegetated fins” that will grow more than 200 feet high on the western facade of the main federal building here, a vertical garden that changes with the seasons and nurtures plants that yield energy savings. The G.S.A. says the building will use 60 percent to 65 percent less energy than comparable buildings and estimates a savings of $280,000 annually in energy costs. Solar panels could provide up to 15 percent of the building’s power needs. The use of rainwater and low-flow plumbing fixtures will reduce potable water consumption by 68 percent. And energy for lighting will be halved.

“It will be one of the more energy-efficient high-rises in America, possibly in the world,” said James Cutler, whose architecture firm, Cutler Anderson, led the design work. [link]

This is nothing more than the kind of attitude in short supply. Just observe these statistics, just out, on the international race too energy independence:

China vaulted past competitors in Denmark, Germany, Spain and the United States last year to become the world’s largest maker of wind turbines, and is poised to expand even further this year. China has also leapfrogged the West in the last two years to emerge as the world’s largest manufacturer of solar panels. [...] So while Americans are used to thinking of themselves as having the world’s largest market in many industries, China’s market for power equipment dwarfs that of the United States, even though the American market is more mature. That means Chinese producers enjoy enormous efficiencies from large-scale production.[link]

Dow Chemical said on Monday it would begin selling a new rooftop shingle next year that converts sunlight into electricity — and could generate $5 billion in revenue by 2015 for the company.
The new solar shingles can be integrated into rooftops with standard asphalt shingles, Dow said, and will be introduced in 2010 before a wider roll-out in 2011.
“We’re looking at this one product that could generate $5 billion in revenue by 2015 and $10 billion by 2020,” Jane Palmieri, managing director of Dow Solar Solutions, told Reuters in an interview.
The shingle will use thin-film cells of copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS), a photovoltaic material that typically is more efficient at turning sunlight into electricity than traditional polysilicon cells.
[link]

This is pretty good news, although it clearly aint the “American Industry” responding to market forces, or even real time needs… FTA, it also mentions word of the handout that clearly helped stimulate them:

“Dow received $20 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy to help develop its BIPV products.”

not to mention their stock went up almost 5% after the announcement. Still, its progress. Rooftop solar systems have been kind of limited to roofing tiles, which have lower solar conversion efficiency than solar panels, and are pretty dang expensive. You see them mostly on celebrities pads or mcmansions. Dow says theyre rooftop solar shingle will be almost 30% cheaper, and cut the installation time in half. All good news for photovoltaic price points.

Chinese government officials signed an agreement on Tuesday with First Solar, an American solar developer, for a 2,000-megawatt photovoltaic farm to be built in the Mongolian desert.
Set for completion in 2019, the First Solar project represents the world’s biggest photovoltaic power plant project to date, and is part of an 11,950-megawatt renewable-energy park planned for Ordos City in Inner Mongolia.[ full article ]

Along with the recent Issuance of yuan-linked government bonds, it looks like China is putting some money behind their talk, unlike some other countries:

China’s Ministry of Finance said it plans to offer 6 billion yuan ($879 million) of government bonds in Hong Kong for the first time to elevate the “international status” of its currency. China is promoting greater use of the yuan overseas after Premier Wen Jiabao expressed concern in March that the U.S. dollar will weaken, eroding the value of its $2.1 trillion in foreign-exchange reserves. Brazil, Russia and India have also said the world is too reliant on the greenback. [ bloomberg ]

The market research firm The Information Network recently noted massive inventory buildup and huge overcapacity were having a serious impact on the solar panel industry and manufacturers, and Dr. Robert Castellano, president of The Information Network has now pointed out that inventory is averaging 122 days in 2009 versus 71 days in 2008. Capacity utilization dropped to 27.9% in 2009 from 48.0% in 2008.digitimes

Time for the DIY niche market on homemade solar cells. Two recent options:

1. Cheap Do It Yourself Solar Cells from Reconstituted Ebay Purchases: [on treehugger]
2. Instructables always has some good learning experiences:

My home made solar cell step by step – More DIY How To Projects

• DIY Solar Cell construction: simple flat panel cuprous oxide solar cell [visit] [visit]- (l flat-panel-solar ) :
  

  The same principles as how to build a simple cuprous oxide solar cell in your kitchen with a hotplate, copper flashing, and salt, but encased in such a way as to make a portable flat panel cell.

• DIY Solar Cell construction: basic solar battery [visit] – (l solar-battery ) :
  

  How to build a simple cuprous oxide solar cell in your kitchen with a hotplate, copper flashing, and salt.

• Electronic Crafts Power Cart [visit] – (l portable-solar-charger ) :
  

  Mouna Andraos has created a pushcart version of a solar charger.. expect to see this multiply in 3rd world environments if component prices get cheaper, or