Installers fear collapse as many homeowners choose to avoid associated higher utility costs. By Marc Lifsher SACRAMENTO — California homeowners are rejecting new rebates for solar power equipment, saying the state has made installing the rooftop panels far more costly than expected.

Solar powered mobility scooters could soon be on the streets thanks to the work of a student at the University of Nottingham. The photovoltaic recharging system will turn the mobility vehicles truly green.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said on Monday that as part of a new solar power pilot project, it is purchasing solar power from BP Solar, SunEdison LLC, and PowerLight for 22 combined Wal-Mart stores, Sam's Clubs and a distribution center in Hawaii and California.

By David Shukman There is a scene in one of the Austin Powers films where Dr Evil unleashes a giant "tractor beam" of energy at Earth in order to extract a massive payment. Well, the memory of it kept me chuckling as I toured the extraordinary scene of the new solar thermal power plant outside Seville in southern Spain. From a distance, as we rounded a bend and first caught sight of it, I couldn't believe the strange structure ahead of me was actually real.

By Maria Surma Manka Mike Strizki’s utility bill is zero, thanks to some creative thinking using renewable energy technologies. By using solar panels, a hydrogen fuel cell, storage tanks and an electrolyzer, he has enough electricity even on the cloudiest days. And Strizki isn’t a hermit living in the dark off of snails and rainwater, either. His 3,500 square foot house is located in central New Jersey on 12 acres, with amenities you’d see in any 21st century home, like a hot tub and big screen TV. His renewable energy system even creates hydrogen he uses to power his fuel-cell car. So how does he produce zero emissions?

The Solarnator From Economist.com It helps to have a sunny disposition CALIFORNIA’S $3.3 billion solar initiative, championed by Arnold Schwarzenegger, the governor, is impressive. State rebates, combined with federal tax credits, can cover up to half the cost of a residential solar system. California builders must now offer solar as an option on all new construction. Another perk: installing solar on existing buildings will not trigger a rise in California’s already heinous property taxes. Mr Schwarzenegger’s goal of a million solar roofs by 2017—in a state with 36m people, and growing—looks ambitious. It also looks relatively feasible.

Patricia Oakley stands in the backyard of her Goshen home beneath the solar panels that she and her husband, Pete, had installed a year ago. Solar panels add to efficiency of goshen home By BECKY EMMONS The sun is trying to shine, and Patricia Oakley stands in her backyard looking up at the sky, almost as though she is trying to will that ball of sun to pop out and give life to her eight solar panels.

Australia. Labor opposition leader Kevin Rudd has unveiled a $300 million plan to offer interest-free loans to households converting to green power.

UN funding plan aims to replace kerosene Cheap, energy-efficient lightbulbs are brightening the lives of 100,000 rural poor in India in a United Nations project touted as an affordable energy solution for the under-developed world.

Target Corp. is spending millions of dollars to cuts its energy costs and secure a greener image in the process. The Minneapolis-based retailer has installed solar panels on the roofs of four of its California retail stores and plans to install similar systems at 14 more locations later this year. The solar-panel systems will generate about 20 percent of those stores' annual energy requirements.