Monthly Archives October 2011

Solar suppliers try to find place in the sun

(Finance & Commerce, October 24, 2011)—On their way to becoming solar-electric panels, more than half of the world’s silicon solar cells produced today reportedly pass through a furnace made by a century-old Lakeville manufacturer. What’s more, the company only started supplying the solar industry four years ago. Despatch Industries now owns more than 60 percent [...]

How will Silicon Energy and TenKsolar manage in oversupplied solar panel market?

(Finance & Commerce, October 24, 2011)—Silicon Energy became Minnesota’s second solar-electric panel manufacturer when it started shipping rooftop units from its Iron Range factory in mid-September. It joins Bloomington-based TenKsolar, which began selling its commercial systems in 2010. The companies are getting a boost from a made-in-Minnesota solar rebate program for Xcel Energy customers. And [...]

Sick of Corporations? Co-Op Evangelists Want You on Their Side

(GOOD, October 13, 2011)—Brian Van Slyke didn’t want to be a boss‚ and he didn’t want to have one either. But as his one-man record label grew to a three-person operation, they needed some type of organizational structure. “We wanted to be our own bosses, together,” Van Slyke says. In 2006, Fall of the West [...]

Improved forecasts for wind farms could save billions

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