Some news,……


Work on the largest solar project in the southern hemisphere is to get under way, after the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) reached financial close with developers AGL Energy for the A$450m (£267m) development.

The 155MW project is spread across two sites in Western New South Wales - a 102MW solar plant at Nyngan and a 53MW solar plant at Broken Hill - and will cover a combined area four times the size of Sydney's central business district.

ARENA will provide $166.7m (£99.0m) and the NSW Government $64.9m (£38.5m) with construction expected to start at Nyngan in January 2014 and at Broken Hill in July.

The project is scheduled to complete in 2015, delivering enough power for up to 50,000 homes, after which First Solar will operate and maintain the projects for five years.

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Going camping?

The solar tent’s design is based on Eddie Bauer’s previously released (and quite popular) Katabatic tent, ”three person, four-season expedition tent is the new standard for the world most hostile environments.” Anyone who’s camping in the “fourth season” would probably find a fully-charged GPS and a heated sleeping bag pretty handy, so the Katabatic went on a date with some solar panels.

The Power Katabatic features a custom-designed, triangular Goal Zero solar panel on top. And word has it that the folds with the tent for storage. Inside you’ll find everything you need to connect the panel to a Goal Zero Sherpa 50 power pack which can store the power inside for nighttime use.


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In a three-continent event today, BMW officially unveiled the all-electric i3.

Shown off in New York, London, and Beijing, the four-seat compact car marks the start of what the German automaker calls a "new era for individual mobility."

The $41,350 price tag (before a $7,500 federal tax credit) puts the i3 in between the Tesla Model S (starts at $69,900) and offerings like the Chevy Spark EV ($26,685).

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June 2013 Is Best Month Yet for Electric Car Sales

Almost 9,000 plug-in electric vehicles have been sold in the U.S. during June of this year, bringing the total in the last 30 months to 110,000 plug-in electric cars.