Solyndra files reorganization plan

Solyndra LLC, the solar-panel maker that received a $535 million U.S. Energy Department loan guarantee before seeking bankruptcy protection, has filed a Chapter 11 reorganization plan. The plan, filed July 27 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., provides for holders of allowed administrative expenses and priority claims to be paid in full, and assets of Solyndra will be vested in the Solyndra Residual Trust.

California carbon twice as expensive as European

A reduction in regulatory uncertainty in California, and concern about a nuclear power outage, have helped to push the price of a carbon allowance in the US’ most populous state to more than double that in the much longer-established European Union Emissions Trading System. The value of a California Carbon Allowance (CCA) for delivery in December 2012 closed at $19.50 per metric ton of CO2 equivalent (EUR16.04/tCO2) on 24 July, the highest closing price of the year so far. The price for European Union Allowances (EUAs) for delivery in December 2012 closed at EUR7.20/tCO2 on the same day.

Wildlife kill data under scrutiny

Wildlife lobby group American Bird Conservancy (ABC) has filed a lawsuit accusing the government of withholding public information on the number of birds and bats killed by wind farms. ABC submitted Freedom of Information Act requests for all documents belonging to the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) department that relates to proposed and operating wind projects in multiple US states.

Bankruptcy Court Confirms Liquidation Plan for Energy Conversion Devices, Inc. and United Solar Ovonic LLC

Energy Conversion Devices , Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiary United Solar Ovonic LLC announced that the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Michigan has confirmed its Second Amended Joint Plan of Liquidation. On July 30, 2012, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Michigan entered a confirmation order in respect of the Second Amended Joint Plan of Liquidation. The confirmation order is expected to become final on August 14, 2012.

Solar plan “shaves years off” solar permit process in NV

It's been two years in the making, and now "Smart from the Start" planning for solar development in the Southwest is expected to start paying off for the Silver State. The federal government has identified a half-dozen sites for large-scale solar development, mostly in Southern Nevada. Former president of the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates, Timothy Hay, says rather than taking a dartboard approach to site selection where they hope to hit the bulls-eye, this plan identifies locations for large-scale solar projects where developers reduce the risk running into such difficult environmental issues as potential harm to endangered species.

Suntech Capital Needs Won’t Be Met by Wall Street, Analysts Say

Suntech Power Holdings Co., the Chinese solar-panel producer that may have been defrauded by an affiliate, has about $541 million in debt due in March and won’t get any help from Wall Street, three analysts said. U.S. investors have lost confidence in the world’s largest solar company after it said it hadn’t verified the existence of 560 million euros ($689 million) in German bonds.

Palo Alto, Calif. Had a Solar Feed-In Tariff and Nobody Came

One of the problems with solar feed-in-tariffs is that if the price is set too high -- there's a frantic goldrush to claim the richly subsidized projects. If the price is too low -- there's not too much enthusiasm by developers to build marginal projects. That's what appears to have occurred in Palo Alto in the heart of Silicon Valley, California. Jon Abendschein, Resource Planner at The City of Palo Alto Utilities just sent out a letter which said: Tuesday, July 31 was the deadline for submitting an application to receive a Palo Alto CLEAN contract in August. No applications were received, so there is still 4 megawatts of capacity remaining in the program.

Sierra Club targets GOP lawmakers for opposing wind energy tax credit

An environmental group launched ads last week targeting three GOP lawmakers for failing to push for an extension of a tax credit for wind energy producers, charging them with killing green energy jobs. The Sierra Club will air commercials attacking Reps. Blake Farenthold (Texas), Bill Shuster (Ariz.) and Bob Latta (Ohio) in their respective districts for the next two weeks. The ads spotlight the lawmakers' opposition to the wind energy production tax credit (PTC), which pays 2.2 cents per kilowatt-hour of wind energy to producers.

SoloPower’s Second Generation Flexible Modules Certified to UL and IEC Standards

SoloPower, the San Jose, California-based manufacturer of high efficiency, lightweight, and flexible thin-film solar cells and modules, has received certification of its next-generation SF1, SP1, and SP3L SoloPanels(R) to both Underwriters Laboratories (UL) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standards.

Gulf turbine plan sparks wildlife debate

The 300 offshore wind turbines proposed for the Gulf of Mexico near South Padre Island would rival the Tower of the Americas in height, with 280-foot blades longer than the wingspan of a Boeing 747. They would be almost twice the size of any turbine currently in the United States. The electricity produced could meet the demand of millions. But the towers, blades and transmission lines could also mar an iconic Texas landscape, restrict fishing and impair endangered species.

California: Ground Zero For Battery-Backed Solar

California leads the nation in rooftop solar panels, which means it may soon start leading the nation in the technologies that integrate that solar into the grid – like batteries, if they can do it at the right price. That’s the test that Greensmith Energy Management Systems will be taking on a megawatt scale soon. The Bethesda, Md.-based startup makes software and hardware for managing batteries and their connection to the grid, including several solar-balancing projects with the likes of Hawaii Electric Co., Carolina utility Progress Energy (now part of Duke Energy), and big Southeast utility Southern Co.

No plans to dump Wyoming’s wind energy tax

Wyoming’s tax on wind energy, the only one of its kind in the nation, isn’t likely to go away anytime soon. The Wyoming legislative committee that voted down revisions to state wind taxes doesn’t plan to revisit the matter before the upcoming session, according to two of its members. But others are hopeful lawmakers will reconsider the issue. At stake are millions of dollars in taxes that some worry will drive wind energy projects out of Wyoming.

Hartz accuses NY hedge affiliate of fraud over energy credit deal

A subsidiary of Hartz Mountain Industries has filed suit accusing a New York investment fund of fraud by reneging on a pledge to buy energy credits from the Secaucus company’s South Jersey solar project, at a cost of $230,000.

Fracking boom lifts hopes for geothermal project at Ore. volcano

No matter what it may sound like, Susan Petty insists she's not trying to frack a volcano. Petty, the founder and president of the Seattle startup AltaRock Energy Inc., says she is just trying to do for geothermal energy what hydraulic fracturing has done for oil and gas.