Solar Energy Investing

Ksl.com reports Tracy Aviary has received a grant from Rocky Mountain Power. The aviary will use the $50,000 grant to install solar panels on the roof of the Liberty Park bird exhibit. Power from the solar panels will be used for the buildings that house the Australian lorikeets, the flamingo winter house and the backstage area for the aviary’s performing birds.

Americanventuremagazine.com reports SunLink Corporation has announced the closing of its Series B round of financing. SunLink is a provider of solar mounting systems for the commercial market. The financing was led by Clean Pacific Ventures.

SolCool reports SolCool One LLC and Perform Wall partnered for the fourth annual Alternative Building Materials & Design Expo in Santa Monica, CA. Perform Wall manufactures insulated concrete forms that are structurally strong, energy efficient, sound proof, resistant to fire, wind, mildew, and fungus, including black mold, as well as being light weight and produced with over 50% recycled polystyrene. SolCool has integrated their Millennia solar powered air-conditioner system with the Perform Wall structure.

GeekZone reports Telecom New Zealand has launched a portable solar charger. The Solio is a small hybrid charger that can use either solar energy or electricity to charge mobile phones. Taking charges from direct sunlight or natural light, the Solio will charge any mobile phone at the same rate as a conventional Mobile phone charger.

The Business Review reports DayStar Technologies Inc. has received a $4 million commitment from a current investor. DayStar reported a net loss of $18 million. The deal cam a week after the company announced it was laying off 20 employees and moving its headquarters back to California.

The University Of Texas At Dallas reports a scientific paper on improving polymer solar cells was selected one of the “Top 5 Hot Talks/Cool Papers” submitted at the Materials Research Society meeting held last month in San Francisco. The paper was authored by Dr. Anvar Zakhidov and colleagues at The University of Texas at Dallas NanoTech Institute. The paper describes the efforts of researchers to build organic solar cells utilizing sheets of carbon nanotubes that collect a greater amount of energy from sunlight than other photovoltaic devices.

Earthtimes.org reports Haley Robinson of Saskatchewan won several prizes at the Canada Wide Science fair for her project on solar water pasteurization. She got the idea for the project from studying solar water heating options for Canadian homes. Robinson’s project is a tee-pee structure that involves a container of water, covered in heat-insulating charcoal paint, and plastic bags, which are suspended by a string in the middle of a cardboard funnel covered in foil. The sun reflects off the foil, heating the water to 135 degrees where it remains for several hours, killing bacteria.

France24.com reports Bertan Piccard is undertaking real-time computer simulations of a circumnavigation. Piccard intends to try a non-stop crossing of the United States by a solar powered aircraft, followed by a transatlantic flight. Piccard’s team will launch a circumnavigation of the globe in May 2011.

United Press International reports industry analysts are predicting a rapid decline in the cost of photovoltaic cells. With a new affordability solar power could become a mainstream option within the next few years. Global production of photovoltaic has increased six times that of 2000, and expanded 41 percent in 2006.

Earthtimes.org reports Electron Solar Energy has announced a deal to sell its products through Tibo Company LLC, in Dubai. Electron Solar Energy is a Miami-based distributor of alternative energy systems. Tibo already markets Electron’s line of batteries.