A & R Solar strives to embody the ideals of environmental stewardship, social justice, and consumer fairness. According to Founder Reeves Clippard, employee ownership is the most important piece to that puzzle. “Pride of work and pride of place are other important aspects we focus on in our business,” says Reeves.

I recently had the opportunity to speak with Reeves. Ever wonder which product lines the solar experts use most? Here’s the line-up for A & R Solar: (more…)

This is a guest post by Mick Humphreys of Apricus Inc.. View our interviews with Mick himself: Solar Thermal’s Untapped Heating Potential, Solar Thermal Rising above Costs and Challenges.

One of the greatest challenges the solar industry is facing is educating the public about solar thermal systems, and I know most solar thermal companies have wrestled with this, is the idea that a solar thermal system can have other applications in your home or business beyond domestic hot water for the dishes or showers. Solar thermal systems that use evacuated tubes perform very well to create very hot water, which can be used for a number of innovative applications, such as: (more…)

For the solar industry, Colorado has been a busy place lately. In Aurora, SolarTAC is coming online as the world’s largest solar testing site and now, in a related twist, the Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory, a founding member organization of SolarTAC, has introduced its Center for Revolutionary Solar Photoconversion (CRSP).

Four Colorado institutions will fund CRSP, with matching funds coming from the state of Colorado. These institutions are University of Colorado (CU) Boulder, Colorado State University (CSU), Colorado School of Mines (CSM) and the DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

CRSP will focus on third-generation solar photon conversion to develop revolutionary ways to convert solar energy directly into electricity. Initially, 12 projects received funding from the CRSP. Six of these include the NREL, four each by CSM and CSU, and three projects for the University of Colorado. Nine projects are beginning this fall and all 12 should be up and running by the end of January. Each project will receive between $75,000 and $100,000 to start. (more…)