Solar plane is heading for Hawaii

A solar-powered plane attempting to circumnavigate the globe without fuel has taken off from Japan after an unscheduled, month-long stop.

European comet probe wakes up from hibernation

European Space Agency's Philae probe has woken up and made contact with controllers, seven months after it went into hibernation on the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

Solar Impulse to be stuck for a week in Japan for repairs

Solar Impulse 2 will be stuck in Japan for at least a week, its pilot has said, after sustaining damage to its delicate wing while on the ground.

Pacific storms ground solar plane on round-the-world trip

Solar Impulse 2 has been forced to delay its landmark crossing of the Pacific Ocean by making an unscheduled stop in the Japanese city of Nagoya on Monday due to bad weather on its planned route to Hawaii.

Solar plane soars above Pacific Ocean

The revolutionary Solar Impulse 2 aircraft has taken off for a six-day flight over the Pacific Ocean, the most ambitious leg of its quest to circumnavigate the globe powered only by the sun.

Solar energy project kills over 3,500 birds in California

A solar energy project has killed as many as 3,500 birds in California, USA, a report said, Pravda.Ru reports.

Round-the-world solar plane reaches second Chinese destination

Solar Impulse (Si2), the solar plane on a mission to fly around the globe without a drop of fuel, arrived at the Chinese city of Nanjing on Tuesday on the final leg of its stay in China.

Solar Impulse 2 Pilot appeals for clean future

Solar Impulse 2 Round-The-World fuel-free flight pilot, Bertrand Piccard, paid a visit and delivered a speech on the importance of a clean energy future at ABB Chongqing Transformer Company in Chongqing, on April 2.

Solar powered plane reaches China

The first solar plane making a round-the-world flight entered Chinese airspace on Monday in its fifth leg that proved the most challenging since its start from Abu Dhabi.

Solar-powered Swiss plane attempts flight around world (Aircraft takes off from the UAE without a drop of fuel)

A Swiss solar-powered plane has taken off from Abu Dhabi, marking the start of the first attempt to fly around the world without a drop of fuel.

The flight will take around five months, and the developers say the aim is to create awareness about replacing "old polluting technologies with clean and efficient technologies".

Philae may not have energy to send results to Earth, says ESA

Europe's robot lab Philae may not have enough power to send to Earth the results of today's drill into the surface of its host comet, mission scientists have said.

The Rosetta comet landing has made history (Space probe, Philae, reaches comet’s surface first time in history)

After 10 years of hard work and one nerve-wracking night, the Rosetta mission has made history by landing on the surface of a comet.

India makes history with first spaceship to orbit Mars

India triumphed in its first interplanetary mission, placing a satellite into orbit around Mars on Wednesday morning and catapulting the country into an elite club of deep-space explorers.
Scientists broke into wild cheers as the orbiter's engines completed 24 minutes of burn time and maneuvered into its designated place around the red planet.
The success of India's Mars Orbiter Mission, affectionately nicknamed MOM, brings India into an elite club of Martian explorers that includes United States, the European Space Agency and the former Soviet Union.

Rosetta space probe makes historic rendezvous with comet

European scientists announced the historic rendezvous on Wednesday between a comet and the Rosetta spacecraft after a 10-year, six billion-kilometre (3.7-billion-mile) chase through the solar system.

The scout Rosetta has now become the first envoy to orbit one of these wanderers of the solar system in deep space, the European Space Agency (ESA) said.

Scientists and spectators at ESA’s mission control in Darmstadt, Germany, cheered after the spacecraft successfully completed its final thrust to swing alongside comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

World’s largest solar boat docks in Paris. -Ending its transatlantic voyage. (2 videos)

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Paris is not new to extreme machines. The world throngs to the French capital every year to be wowed by the cutting-edge technology in either automobiles, at the Paris Motor Show, or aircrafts, at the Paris Air Show. This week, the world’s largest solar-powered boat eased into the Seine, ending its transatlantic voyage.
Docked at the quay in front of Paris’ western Parc André Citroën, the Turanor PlanetSolar catamaran, whose body is made of carbon fibre, exemplifies state-of-the-art solar-powered engineering.

China, EU reach deal on solar panel dispute

BRUSSELS, July 27 (Xinhua) -- The China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products and the European Commission have reached a deal to resolve a dispute involving solar panels.
"After weeks of intensive talks, I can announce today that I am satisfied with the offer of a price undertaking submitted by China's solar panel exporters," EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht said in a statement, referring to an agreement for a minimum price for China's imports.
"We found an amicable solution ... that will lead to a new market equilibrium at sustainable prices," De Gucht said.

Spain’s solar industry to collapse as govt introduces draconian profit caps

One of the main producers of renewable energy in Europe, Spain’s solar industry, is edging toward bankruptcy. Producers say they’ll be unable to repay credits after the government’s decision to cut subsidies. Banks will suffer and jobs will be lost.
Energy Minister José Manuel Soria has introduced a new compensation plan for calculating levels of "reasonable profitability" for renewable-energy production, distribution and transportation. It will reduce payments to companies serving the nation's electrical system by up to 2.7 billion euro annually. It’s hoped the move could help cope with the electricity system deficit that has been growing since 2005 and now exceeds 25 billion euro.

To sap the annual deficit, which has been estimated by the government at 4.5 billion euro this year, Spain is set to raise consumers' electric bills by about 3.2 percent starting from August, contributing about 400 million euro in extra revenue for the system this year and 900 million euro next year, the Wall Street Journal reports.

L'Allemagne arrêtera ses subventions à l'énergie solaire d'ici à 2018

L'Allemagne devrait arrêter de subventionner l'énergie solaire d'ici à 2018 au plus tard, a affirmé lundi 8 juillet le ministre de l'environnement, Peter Altmaier, qui avait commencé dès l'an dernier à baisser la voilure du soutien très généreux accordé au photovoltaïque.

Peter Altmaier, conservateur, avait fixé l'an dernier un plafond de capacité solaire installée au-delà duquel les pouvoirs publics arrêteraient de subventionner cette énergie. Il a déclaré que ce seuil de 52 gigawatts serait vraisemblablement atteint en 2017, au plus tard en 2018.

Αυτοκόλλητες ηλιακές κυψέλες για κάθε επιφάνεια

Ερευνητές από το Πανεπιστήμιο του Στάνφορντ ανακοίνωσαν ότι ανέπτυξαν μια αυτοκόλλητη ηλιακή κυψέλη που, σε αντίθεση με τις συμβατικές, μπορεί να τοποθετηθεί σε πολλών τύπων σκληρές επιφάνειες. Η εφεύρεσή τους, υποστηρίζουν, αυξάνει εντυπωσιακά τις δυνατότητες διείσδυσης της τεχνολογίας ηλιακής ενέργειας.
Υπό κανονικές συνθήκες, λεπτές «ταινίες» ηλιακών κυψελών τοποθετούνται σε εύκαμπτα υποστρώματα γυαλιού και πυριτίου, καθώς οι περισσότερες μη συμβατικές επιφάνειες δεν μπορούν να υποβληθούν στις θερμικές και χημικές διεργασίες που χρειάζονται για την παραγωγή των κυψελών.