Energy Efficiency: How Italy Beat the World to a Smarter Grid

might have been a good 'stimulus' project. oh well...

An aggressive rollout of intelligent electrical meters is saving Italy's Enel 750 million dollars per year -- and cutting customers' bills

Energy Efficiency: How Italy Beat the World to a Smarter Grid - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International

Hive Electricity: The Coming Energy Revolution

Electric cars, intelligent washing machines, mini power plants in your basement: Germany is on the verge of an energy revolution. SPIEGEL ONLINE looks at the latest developments in the smart grid and how it will change the relationship between consumers and energy suppliers.


Hive Electricity: The Coming Energy Revolution - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International

Thin-Film Solar Startup Debuts With $4 Billion in Contracts

A startup with a secret recipe for printing cheap solar cells on aluminum foil debuted today, in what could end up a milestone for the industry.

Nanosolar’s technology consists of sandwiches of copper, indium, gallium and selenide (CIGS) that are 100 times thinner than the silicon solar cells that dominate the solar photovoltaics market. Its potential convinced Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page to back the company as angel investors in its early days.

Two big announcements marked its coming out party: The company has $4 billion in contracts and can make money selling its products for $1 per watt of a panel’s capacity. That’s cheap enough to compete with fossil fuels in markets across the world.

Thin-Film Solar Startup Debuts With $4 Billion in Contracts | Wired Science | Wired.com