As heat waves roast major cities around the world, solar energy is a hot topic. From residential rooftops to power plants to experimental aircraft, solar energy is having its season in the sun. Thursday, after spending 26 hours aloft, a solar powered airplane landed. And this week the Obama administration pledged about $ 1.85 billion in guaranteed loans to develop a solar energy power plant and solar panel factories. There’s a cloud though. {Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, ever the bearers of bad news these days, won’t accept mortgage loans that use a government program to finance solar energy installation costs|Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac won’t accept mortgage loans that use a government program to finance solar energy installation costs|Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, ever the bearers of bad news these
Solar plane gets its day within the sun
Thursday, a solar plane landed in Paris after flying continuously for 26 hours, 9 minutes. The New York Times reports that the Solar Impulse reached an altitude of more than 28,000 feet and reached a maximum speed of 78 miles per hour during a day over Switzerland. he solar energy plan was powered by energy collected during the day from solar panels on its 210-foot wingspan. Organizers said the flight was the longest and highest by a solar-powered craft.
Poster child for solar energy is the solar plane
The Solar Impulse record-breaking flight took seven years of planning and brings the Swiss-led project one step closer to its goal of flying Solar Impulse around the world powered only by the solar energy. The Associated Press reports that although the objective is to prove that emissions-free air travel is possible with Solar Impulse, the flight team said it doesn’t see solar energy replacing jet propulsion any time soon. The project will instead test and promote new energy efficient technology.
Through stimulus package, solar energy companies get billions
Speaking of new energy-efficient technologies, President Obama announced during his weekly address that the U.S. Department of Energy will pledge $ 1.85 billion from the economic stimulus package to two solar energy companies: Abengoa Solar and Abound Solar Manufacturing. The International Business Times reports that Abengoa Solar will build the first ever large-scale solar energy power plant in Arizona with $ 1.45 billion in funding. Developers say the project will create more than 1,600 construction jobs and clean energy for 70,000 homes. Abound Solar Manufacturing will build a plant that manufactures solar panels in Colorado and in Indiana with $ 400 million in funding. The solar panel factories are going to create more than 2,000 construction jobs, conserve energy for 200,000 homes, and produce more than 1,500 permanent clean energy jobs.
PACE provides solar panels for your house
Clean energy initiatives that focus on solar energy are gaining quite a bit of momentum on numerous fronts. But the U.S. housing market, which has become the ball and chain for of economic recovery, is running true to form. As outlined by Trading Markets, the Obama administration’s Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program is falling into the black hole of Freddie Mac and Fanny Mae. The PACE program is allocating $ 150 million in loans for local governments which they can then lend to you to cover the upfront costs solar panels for home. Over time the loans are paid off with property tax bills.
Fannie and Freddie cast dark cloud over solar energy
With PACE, residential solar energy could have been headed for a big boost. But Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, federal agencies that guarantee more than 50 percent of U.S. mortgages, are overwhelmed with millions of foreclosures. Officials in charge of the agencies, which have cost U.S. taxpayers at least $ 145 billion in losses, assume people will start defaulting on PACE mortgages as well. Both Fannie and Freddie have issued letters to mortgage sellers stating that they’ll not accept any loans for homes using the new program.
Discover more data:
New York Times
nytimes.com/2010/07/09/world/europe/09plane.html?_r=1&hp
Associated Press
google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5goDxf8Obh9y8tOk6Nse1GMEmSXWgD9GQNU181
International Business Times
ibtimes.com/articles/33502/20100708/obama-s-commitment-to-solar-technology-job-creation-and-economic-recovery.htm
Trading Markets
tradingmarkets.com/news/stock-alert/fnm_us-energy-solar-initiatives-threatened-by-white-house-dissonance-1028938.html
