Man arrested in Larissa for photovoltaic park scam
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- Published on Thursday, 08 August 2013 11:22
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A man suspected of obtaining about 1 million euros by conning people into believing he would build photovoltaic parks has been arrested in Larissa, central Greece.
The man, identified by authorities by his initials, NP, had been wanted since 2012, when a number of people in Fthiotida and Thessaly began reporting complaints to police about the scam.
The suspect is alleged to have set up a company, Energy Production & Trading, in the UK and a subsidiary in Greece.
He met clients in luxury hotels in Athens to agree projects for photovoltaic installations.
NP accepted between 20,000 and 50,000 euros as advances for each scheme but never followed through with any work.
Police have traced payments of more than 800,000 euros to the company’s bank account. (By ekathimerini.com)
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Photovoltaic Thermal System Achieves 86% Efficiency
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- Published on Thursday, 08 August 2013 11:15
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In April of 2013, SunDrum's Photovoltaic/Thermal (PVT) system achieved 86% efficiency on a Massachusetts home during peak hours. This is a record for a PVT system with a fixed (non-tracking) mount. SunDrum also installed a PVT system at the Inn at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii. That system is expected to pay for itself in less than three years and provide a 30% return on investment. In its first six months of operation, it recouped 25% of its installation cost. High efficiency and short payback periods look pretty cool to me, so let's see how PVT works...
In the sustainable energy industry, it’s commonly known that solar water heating offers a quicker payback period and a higher return on investment than photovoltaics. This is because solar radiation already contains a large amount of heat, so using the heat directly is more efficient than converting it to “high-grade” energy like electricity. Your mileage may vary, but on average a solar water heating system will pay for itself in about 4-7 years, where a photovoltaic system could take 10-20 years.
But the reason electricity is considered “high-grade” energy is that it’s more versatile. Heating water is great, but it’s only one job. Converting sunlight to heat and electricity, and doing both efficiently, would be a double-win. Give it a short payback period and you’ve hit the trifecta!
A PVT system includes a solar thermal collector (as shown above) that mounts underneath a photovoltaic panel. A typical PV cell has an efficiency of 15% under ideal conditions. When a PV panel heats up (as dark objects sitting in direct sunlight tend to do) its efficiency and lifespan will both decrease. Remove some of that heat and the panel will achieve closer to its ideal efficiency and be less prone to heat-related failures. And instead of just radiating that heat away, why not use it to heat your water?
The SunDrum collector is designed to work with a variety of popular PV panels, and its plumbing uses standard off-the-shelf parts to keep costs down.
SunDrum thermal testing shows that the hybrid panels are about 40oF (4.4oC) cooler than standard PV panels. As you can see from the chart below, this produces only a modest increase in electrical production but nearly triples the total usable energy that the system produces, bringing the total efficiency of the system to around 70% without increasing its overall footprint.
SunDrum claims that a hybrid PV/solar water heating system pays for itself in 5-10 years, just slightly longer than a solar water heating system without the PV, and quite a bit faster than a PV system by itself. In places like Hawaii, the payback period is even shorter.
If you’re going to go solar, why not go all the way? (Excerpt from ENGINEERING)
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IEEE Standards Association Partners With SEMI for a Photovoltaic Standards Workshop at SOLARCON India 2013
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- Published on Monday, 05 August 2013 12:00
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Day Workshop to Have Extensive Deliberations on Standards for Renewable Energy and Micro Grids
IEEE-Standards Association (IEEE-SA), a globally recognized standards-setting body within IEEE, is partnering with SEMI for a day workshop on the 2nd of August as part of SOLARCON India 2013. The workshop titled 'PV Standards-from materials and manufacturing to systems' will see leading industry practitioners and testing/certification firms sharing latest updates on the most relevant aspects of standards for PV. There will also be discussions on global standards development activities, standards needs specific to India and the need for greater participation by Indian firms in global standards development. For registration, agenda and related details of the workshop, please visit http://www.solarconindia.org/node/1106
According to Bill Ash, Strategic Program Manager, IEEE-SA, "India is a significant market for renewable energy globally with solar/PV as a key component. It is also a market where cutting-edge innovation is happening. This workshop provides a platform for us to interact with industry leaders and researchers here and understand the local needs better, to make our standards' solutions more relevant to local needs. An aspect of particular significance considering some of the issues faced with the grid in India is fairly unique."
Added Bettina Weiss, President, SEMI India, "We are delighted to partner IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA) and IEC for this workshop at SOLARCON India 2013 on a topic of great relevance. With rapid growth in installations in India, and with components being sourced from across the world, installers, developers and end users have a direct stake in quality, reliability and performance standards, best practices for reliable installations, component benchmarks and field-performance indicators. Similar issues are important across the PV value chain. SEMI's International Standards Program focuses on manufacturing standards that enable companies to reduce costs, align technology roadmaps, ensure connectivity & compatibility besides driving positive growth and economic benefit." (By DNA)
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Price undertaking is just a stopgap
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- Published on Monday, 05 August 2013 11:45
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After arduous negotiations, representatives of China's photovoltaic industry have reached an agreement with the European Commission on Saturday, setting a minimum price for imports from China. This price undertaking will avoid the largest trade dispute between China and EU culminating in a showdown and allow for Chinese solar panel exporters to maintain their market share in the EU which will in turn greatly ease industrial uncertainty. Consequently, this result has been warmly welcomed by China's trade groups and government.
Nevertheless, the agreement remains a serious intervention in free trade and the market pricing mechanism, making it the better option to take, but not the best, under EU protectionism. Although the EU Trade Commission and its chief Karel De Gucht seemingly brag about the dispute's solution, it's still not sufficient to help eradicate the existing problems within the EU photovoltaic industry. Facing a decline in prices of primary goods on the market, this type of price undertaking may actually cause big problems for Chinese solar panel products.
The plight of the EU photovoltaic industry is obvious. Earlier this month, Conergy AG, Europe's largest solar energy group, filed for bankruptcy. Conergy Group was valued over 2.2 billion euros in 2007, standing right at the top of the solar energy industry. Its current market value has dropped to a mere 57 million euros. Last year, Conergy's revenue was 474 million euros, running at a loss of 83 million euros. Its peer Solar World, one of the first to ask for anti-dumping duties on Chinese solar imports, has also been trapped in great losses. Can restricting Chinese products then really get the EU's photovoltaic industry out of trouble? The answer is no.
The industry's problems are rooted in low efficiency and high costs caused by the big salaries of senior executives and staff workers. The core competitiveness of the leading companies in the EU photovoltaic industry stems from political power lobbying for huge government subsidies or trade protectionism, instead of coming from their productivity or quality. Many professionals continue to demand outrageous paychecks in the face of fierce competition and huge losses, rather than actually work harder.
To cure this kind of sick industry, the best medical treatment is to invite external competition and let the fittest survive. If we maintain the low-efficient ones through trade protectionism and government subsidies, it may reduce the pressure in the photovoltaic industry for a short while, but will take a much higher toll on the downstream industry and consumers, as well as weaken the reform.
Furthermore, the biggest competitor of EU photovoltaic industry is not its peers in other countries, but the traditional fossil fuel industry. The photovoltaic industry has been booming ever since oil and natural gas prices rose sharply in the new century. Nonetheless, the power supply coming from solar energy is not as stable as that of thermal power. In short: if the solar energy industry cannot reduce its costs quickly, it will soon plunge into an abyss.
Although the international oil price is about a hundred dollars per barrel, the downward pressure on prices of photovoltaic products remains. The recent high oil prices were cooked up by financial markets under the guise of unrest in Arab countries; it does not reflect the real market value. As for the natural gas market, the dive of Bohai Rim steam coal price, the "Shale Gas Revolution" in the U.S. and its relaxing control over gas export, as well as the continuous natural gas programs for the East Asia Market, have signaled a price fall in the East Asia natural gas market – which has the highest natural gas price in the world. With the falling prices of natural gas, oil prices could not maintain a high level. When fossil fuel prices then went on the decline, the high fixed prices of photovoltaic products could do nothing but shrink, even leading to the sharp shrinkage of the EU photovoltaic market.
So please Mr. Karel De Gucht, do not brag about the recent solution until the real problem has been solved. Taking the China-EU textile dispute as an example, only one month after signing a memo on China's textile exports to the EU in 2005, a large amount of Chinese fabric exports was impounded by EU customs due to quota limits. This caused some types of clothing usually available on the EU market to widely be out of stock; and that shortage could not be supplied by other exporters. The then trade commissioner Peter Mandelson was once content with the signing of the memo and was praised as a "hero" by some from the clothing industry and media. Soon he was beleaguered and criticized for the ensuing crisis. The EU trade department should conduct self-discipline by reviewing its lessons learned.
As for the Chinese photovoltaic companies, price undertaking is a better choice than incurring a costly anti-dumping tariff. After all, the EU is still their largest target market. If this policy can work with the domestic industrial restructuring, it will promote the technological upgrading and phase out the technically backward and low-efficient ones. However, if the pricing rule is applied too rigidly and cannot adjust itself with the future fall of fossil fuel prices, while EU companies in the meantime still have freedom of pricing, Chinese companies will face the challenges from their EU peers' low prices. They might eventually even be phased out. China must try to avoid this kind of situation at all costs and reduce the risks by nurturing the domestic market. (By China.org)
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Cleaning photovoltaic panels often not worth the cost, at least in California
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Don't hire someone to wash your dirty photovoltaic (PV) panels, engineers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) advise. The reason: paying for a solar-panel washing would cost more than the energy it would save.
The UCSD researchers found that panels that had been neither cleaned nor rained on for 145 days during a summer drought in California dropped in efficiency by only 7.4%. Overall, for a typical residential solar system of 5 kW, washing panels halfway through the summer would translate into a mere $20 gain in electricity production until the summer drought ends in about 2½ months.
For larger commercial rooftop systems, the financial losses are bigger, but still rarely enough to warrant the cost of washing the panels. On average, panels lost a little less than 0.05% of their overall efficiency per day. The findings were published in the July 25 online issue of Solar Energy.
If very large, go ahead and wash
Jan Kleissl, the principal investigator on the study and a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at UCSD, cautions that the study is focused on smaller systems. For very large installations, economies of scale may mean that washing panels is worth it.
The researchers analyzed data from the California Solar Initiative showing solar panel output at 186 residential and commercial sites from the San Francisco Bay Area to the United States-Mexico border for the year 2010. They compared output after more than 0.1 in. of rain fell on the panels with output during the 145 day summer drought California experienced that year. The panels would have been cleaned by rain but would have remained dirty during the drought, researchers reasoned.
The survey's findings are applicable more widely, says Kleissl. Pollution and dust levels in California are fairly representative of the rest of the United States -- and possibly higher, he explained. If anything, other areas of the country get more rain, resulting in cleaner panels and even smaller losses. "Of course, there are exceptional events, like dust storms in Arizona," Kleissl says.
The researchers didn't find any statistically significant differences between different regions of the state for output during the drought period, although sites in the Los Angeles basin and the Central Valley had dirtier panels. A caveat: solar panels heavily soiled with bird droppings should be cleaned, because the droppings essentially block all sunlight and are not washed away when it rains. (By Laser Focus World)
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Transparent Photovoltaic Surface is a Gamechanger
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- Published on Thursday, 01 August 2013 10:25
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Aix-en-Provence based Wysips® (What You See Is Photovoltaic Surface), a subsidiary of Sunpartner, is ramping up the production of a transparent photovoltaic surface. Since winning the CTIA prize for groundbreaking innovations in Orlando, Florida in 2011, Wysips has further developed the technology reaching 90% transparency and packing enough power generation in an 0.5mm layer beneath the tactile surface to offset the energy consumption of the ‘network search’ function of a mobile phone and placing emergency calls.
Applications in mobile phones and tablets tend to attract much of the attention, with the immediate promise of extending battery life by 20% and even the perspective of dispensing with battery altogether especially in markets where mobile telecommunications are more developed that the electricity grid. However, other potential applications are round the corner: for instance, integrating wysips in existing windows offers the potential of moving old buildings in the direction of smart zero-energy buildings. Using such technology, the first zero-energy billboards will get to market by the end of this year. Application in textiles are also under development.
Sipping my drink in front on Notre-Dame de Paris yesterday evening, I was even dreaming of more far-reaching applications. While placing traditional solar panels on the roof of the cathedral would generate a huge outcry, what about covering the roof with a transparent photovoltaic film? Could it also serve as a protecting layer? If so, could the use be extended to cover the walls of buildings, in order not only to take them towards energy self-sufficiency, but also to avoid costly restoration? And what about cars, trains, planes being coated with such a photovoltaic surface? What about glasshouses, which we cannot cover with traditional photovoltaic surface without defeating the purpose of letting sunlight reaches plants in a wheather-sheltered environment?
Undoubtedly, some of these ideas may not come to fruition, but thinking about them, arguably with a drink in hand on a warm summer evening, I find little reason why they could not be subject to rapid prototyping. And then who knows? At any rate transparent photovoltaic surface could be a massive gamechanger. (By Innovation Excellence)
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Powerway & JA Solar Sign Strategic Cooperation Agreement for the Photovoltaic Market in South Africa
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- Published on Monday, 29 July 2013 17:26
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JA Solar (Nasdaq: JASO) is one of the world's largest manufacturers of high-performance solar power products that convert sunlight into electricity for residential, commercial, and utility-scale power generation. With one of the healthiest financial positions among the Chinese peers, JA Solar is dedicated to be a long-term business partner for its customers and focuses on the sustainable development of the photovoltaic industry.
Powerway has set up a South African production facility based in Boksburg& Durban, producing Solar Tracker and Fixed Tilt Mounting Structures, and will start Module production and more PV related products soon at its Coega facility. Powerway has built up a strong network with project investors, and has achieved BBBEE accreditation . It is believed the constructive cooperation between JA Solar and Powerway will facilitate one-stop solution for solar PV projects.
With the strategic partnership agreement signed, both parties agree :
1. Powerway will include JA modules as module supplier into its South Africa R2/R3 projects bidding process as a module provider.
2.Powerway and JA will work hand in hand to provide local solutions to preferred bidders and solar farm developers in South Africa market, with its goal to help PV power plant investors to increase the local content level.
3.Powerway and JA will work together to design and promote a commercial rooftop package solution in South Africa market. And both parties will jointly develop product kits that suits the local market environment in South Africa.
"Powerway has established a footprint in South Africa over the last two years and has a wide market connection, the ideal long term partner to work with in South Africa. It is very exciting to have an alliance with Powerway for our strategic movement into the African market," said Mr. Xie Jian, COO of JA Solar.
"South Africa, and the African continent is a very promising market. We look forward to working with JA Solar, who is very well recognized as the leading and innovative module producer in the world. Powerway has also set up alliance with Nari, one of the world's biggest utility EPC companies, and now with JA Solar's support, we are able to offer to the market a real one stop solution, from manufacturing, to engineering, to construction, to financing, and to O & M service, Powerway, with JA Solar and Nari, will offer South Africa the most economical solution", said Mr. Benson Wu, CEO of Powerway Group. (By AltEnergyMag Press Release)
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EH Smith joins the British Photovoltaic Association
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- Published on Monday, 29 July 2013 17:08
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Building merchants EH Smith has joined the British Photovoltaic Association (BPVA), with the company’s sustainability director John Cave appointed as a member of the executive committee of the association.
Cave explained why EH Smith believes that solar will play an important role in the future of energy. He said: “We believe that solar PV is a very important part of the future energy mix in the UK. We have been stocking PV since before the introduction of the feed-in tariff in 2010 and have seen the exponential growth in the market over the last few years.
“Rising energy costs, energy security concerns and a commitment to carbon reduction all combine to drive the construction sector towards increased energy efficiency and on-site renewable energy. We have been impressed by the drive and focus of the BPVA and are delighted to add our name to an impressive list of members.”
The move marks an important step forward for the solar and construction industries and the BPVA hopes that it will allow other building merchants to recognise the benefits that solar can offer them. Reza Shaybani, BPVA chairman explained: “Our aim from day one has been to bring the solar PV & construction industries closer together and this is a major step in that direction. Installing solar PV should be part of the build process and not an afterthought.
“We hope that we assist EH Smith in every way possible to become the first builder’s merchant to supply high quality solar PV and energy storage technologies to their long list of loyal customers. I am also delighted that John Cave will join the executive committee of the association. John’s knowledge of the sector and his vision are an essential part of growing the industry further. The executive committee members are helping the team to develop a number of exciting projects currently.” (By Solar Power Portal)
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Texas A&M Launches World’s Biggest Solar Photovoltaic R&D Facility
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- Published on Thursday, 25 July 2013 14:32
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They say everything’s bigger in Texas, and apparently that axiom extends to solar energy technology research and development.
Texas A&M University-Central Texas recently announced a collaboration with solar energy entities to launch the Center for Solar Energy (CSE), a research and development facility that when completed, will be the largest in the world.
The $600 million facility will stretch over 800 acres in nearby Bell County, housing hundreds of solar photovoltaic (PV) technologies that not only test and incubate early-stage innovations, but also generate clean electricity for the campus.
From Incubation To Demonstration
CSE will function as an incubator for solar entrepreneurs, aiming to shorten the prototype-to-marketplace cycle from 6-10 years to less than 2. Participants will enter the incubation program through scholarship, venture capital partner, or advisory board recommendation on the potential for their technology to achieve market success with lower capital requirements.
Once involved, incubating companies will have access to CSE’s two demonstration fields to compare and test their technologies to others on a level playing field. CSE’s main field will be comprised of approximately 100 different manufacturers and technologies, all deployed at a 500 kilowatt (kW) scale.
The main demonstration field will total 50 megawatts of generation capacity when full, enough to supply 100% of the university’s power. Excess power will be sent back onto the grid and is expected to help Fort Hood in its drive to become a net zero US military base running on renewable electricity.
By deploying competitors in the same area, data will be collected under the same solar resources and subject to identical test protocol. “The 50MW solar field will create a baseline of data for grading new and existing technologies while providing a basis for research,” said Bruce Mercy, CSE executive director.
In addition to the main test field, program participants will have access to smaller demonstration sites to deploy their systems at a 30kW scale for a 3-year period with access to staff assistance, monitoring, and full data sets from other technologies deployed across the CSE.
Texas-Sized Manufacturing And Green Job Opportunities
But beyond just testing technologies, CSE will also give entrepreneurs an avenue to begin manufacturing. A limited prototype manufacturing facility will be available to support production runs ranging from single panels to several hundred kW.
The facility will provide access to low-cost and short-term manufacturing until participants can grow into their own facilities, and could attract up to $500 million in outside revenue from industry partners moving into the area within 6 years, creating a Central Texas solar manufacturing hub from scratch.
As CSE grows in size and attracts new economic opportunities, the center will also help build a green collar workforce. “It will extend collaborative opportunities across the educational spectrum to universities and agencies with the Texas A&M University system, as well as to our regional community college partners and school districts,” said Dr. Marc Nigliazzo, Texas A&M University-Central Texas President.
Solar curriculum opportunities at Texas A&M will abound through CSE. The partnership will offer degrees in renewable energy engineering, physics, and business management, as well as career training and certificate programs for working professionals seeking a new career, and research programs that specifically target job creation and training.
CSE will also create a National Photovoltaic Innovation Award to award annual scholarships for solar entrepreneurs. The competition will feed into CSE’s incubator program and award winners will receive support from CSE staff, full access to the center’s demonstration and manufacturing facilities, and help in developing their business plans.
Hook ‘Em, Solar-Style
So while the Texas A&M community will always hate the “hook ‘em horns” slogan of their rivals at the University of Texas, CSE may give the university something to cheer – hooking the future of the solar industry. (Excerpt from Cleantechnica)
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California Lags Behind Third World Countries in Solar Initiatives
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- Published on Thursday, 25 July 2013 14:18
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We here in the Golden State are proud of our growing solar infrastructure, and rightly so. But two countries not necessarily known for their fabulous wealth -- Peru and Thailand -- have just put solar programs in place than make us look like we're not serious by comparison.
In Peru, according to reports late last week, the Andean nation's government has set out to provide its least affluent two million people with electricity by giving them solar panels. Peru's "National Photovoltaic Household Electrification Program" seeks to bump the percentage of Peruvians with access to electrical power to 95 percent by the end of 2016. Right now, about a third of the people in the country are without power. Peru's strategy is to solarize 500,000 poor households, providing photovoltaic electrical power for around two million people.
If we in California were to embark on a "solar for the poor" program of comparable scale, it would mean equipping 2.53 million Californians with solar power. That's the equivalent of giving everyone in San Diego and San Jose solar panels, with enough left over to completely solarize Irvine, the state's fastest growing city.
According to Peru's Energy and Mining Minister Jorge Merino, the solarizing program is expected to provide direct health benefits to Peru's poorest. "This program is aimed at the poorest people, those who lack access to electric lighting and still use oil lamps, spending their own resources to pay for fuels that harm their health," Merino told the Latin American Herald Tribune.
This isn't the first such initiative in Peru, as witness this 2010 photo of a small solar panel on a totora hut on one of Lake Titicaca's famous floating islands, provided the Native residents as a result of a Presidential campaign promise:
Solar hut on Lake Titicaca | Photo: superfluity/Flickr/Creative Commons License
Meanwhile, Southeast Asia's Kingdom of Thailand has announced it plans to implement a solar feed-in tariff for both rooftop and ground-mounted solar that will pay rooftop panel owners prices for their power that make the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power's much-vaunted feed-in tariff program look really stingy by comparison. Participants in the Thai program who install rooftop solar arrays of less than 10 kilowatts in capacity, a typical size for a small California home, will receive 7 baht for every kilowatt-hour their panels produce. At current exchange rates, that's about $0.26 American. Villages that pool their resources and install a 1-megawatt ground-mounted community array, likely to supply the majority of power needs for many small Thai towns, will get an astonishing 9.75 baht per kilowatt-hour. That's equivalent to 31 and a half American cents these days, nearly twice what LADWP is paying its feed-in tariff participants.
It's one thing to hang our Californian heads in shame compared to a technological powerhouse such as Germany. When Peru and Thailand, neither of which is an especially affluent country, start to surpass us in programs for solar development? It's time to stop goofing off and start getting those solar panels put up.
For more on using solar tech to improve public health in Peru, check out innovativesolarperu.org (By KCET)
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