Solar City said it has created a photovoltaic panel capable of 22% efficiency, 7 percentage points higher than average solar panels.

The new panels produce 30% to 40% more power over the current models, but they cost the same to manufacture — about .55 cents per watt, according to Bass. The panels, which are 1.61 meters or 1.81 meters in size, depending on the model, will have a capacity of 355 watts each.

Source: SolarCity claims it has created the world’s most powerful solar panel

Why I am a Climate Change Skeptic | Heartlander Magazine.

Rooftops on new buildings built in commercial zones in France must either be partially covered in plants or solar panels, under a law approved on Thursday.Green roofs have an isolating effect, helping reduce the amount of energy needed to heat a building in winter and cool it in summer.The argument for divesting from fossil fuels is becoming overwhelmingRead moreThey also retain rainwater, thus helping reduce problems with runoff, while favouring biodiversity and giving birds a place to nest in the urban jungle, ecologists say.The law approved by parliament was more limited in scope than initial calls by French environmental activists to make green roofs that cover the entire surface mandatory on all new buildings.The Socialist government convinced activists to limit the scope of the law to commercial buildings.

via France decrees new rooftops must be covered in plants or solar panels | World news | The Guardian.

That captures the most solar energy over the course of the day, which benefits the homeowner, but does so at hours that are not so helpful for the utility and the grid as a whole.

Mount them to catch the sunlight from the west in the afternoon, and the panels’ production over all would fall, but it would come at hours when the electricity was more valuable.

via Why More Solar Panels Should Be Facing West, Not South – NYTimes.com.

As well as getting it from sunlight, it also grows on trees…

A study, Sustainable Mallee Jet Fuel, commissioned by Airbus and undertaken at the Future Farm Industries Cooperative Research Centre, found that carbon emissions from jet fuel sourced entirely from mallee crops would emit 40 per cent less carbon than those using petroleum-based jet fuel.

It proposes using the mallee – a family of eucalypts that has a low-growing multi-stem growth habit – as the source of the oil to act as feed-stock for the jet fuel.

Fuel for jets DOES grow on trees • The Register.

With the first ever production of synthesized “solar” jet fuel, the EU-funded SOLAR-JET project has successfully demonstrated the entire production chain for renewable kerosene obtained directly from sunlight, water and carbon dioxide (CO2), therein potentially revolutionizing the future of aviation. This process has also the potential to produce any other type of fuel for transport applications, such as diesel, gasoline or pure hydrogen in a more sustainable way.

via SOLAR-JET – News & Events.

Navy researchers at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), Materials Science and Technology Division, demonstrate proof-of-concept of novel NRL technologies developed for the recovery of carbon dioxide (CO2) and hydrogen (H2) from seawater and conversion to a liquid hydrocarbon fuel.

The predicted cost of jet fuel using these technologies is in the range of $3-$6 per gallon, and with sufficient funding and partnerships, this approach could be commercially viable within the next seven to ten years.

via Scale Model WWII Craft Takes Flight With Fuel From the Sea Concept – U.S. Naval Research Laboratory.

This system is incredibly efficient at low wind speeds.

DualWingGenerator | Festo Corporate.