M&M chocolate candies just took on a new shade of green. Mars Candy recently installed the nation’s largest photovoltaic array at a food production facility in Hackettstown, New Jersey. The 2.2-megawatt solar system is made up of 28,680 solar power panels in a field next to the candy plant.

Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) will operate and maintain the solar power plant. The resulting solar electricity will be purchased by Mars through a power purchase agreement. The “solar garden” will provide 20 percent of the Mars facility’s energy needs at peak output. The solar modules are thin-film panels provided by First Solar, a Tempe, Arizona-based international leader in thin-film solar production. (more…)

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Wow. We just finished watching the latest video blog from the Green Girls, a group of beautiful women working to inspire an eco-conscious lifestyle. They’re showcasing what is most definitely the coolest hybrid vehicle we have ever laid eyes on: the Fisker Karma.

Fisker Automotive is one of the few hybrid-only manufacturers working towards green auto sustainability. And thanks to the Green Girls, we were given an insider’s look at the company’s newest creation, the Karma luxury hybrid vehicle. Let’s just say it’s a true thing of beauty. (more…)

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Solar power is poised to become the Renaissance man of the energy industry, taking over for petroleum and dirty coal. Solar talents already include heating homes, heating water, creating electricity, cooling homes, cooking food, charging cell phones and lighting landscapes, to name a few. And now, at last, solar power has developed a talent sure to send it soaring into the annals of history: brewing beer.

And speaking of Renaissance men, how about former Princeton University molecular biologist-turned-solar brew master, Joseph Blair. His penchant for mad science combined with the dual American loves of craft beers and DIY has led Joe Blair to create the world’s first solar-powered home brew.

Blair is the owner of Princeton Homebrew in Trenton, New Jersey. He and his almost net-zero energy solar home brews were recently profiled in Philly Beer Scene Magazine. In that piece, Joe revealed to the world his revolutionary brewing technique: all homemade, all pure genius. It should be noted that Mr. Blair’s DIY solar endeavors begin with a radiant floor heating system powered by a slew of hoses zigzagging across the flat, black tar roof of his shop. (more…)

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