Online search and advertising giant Google is teaming with investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. to develop four solar energy farms serving the Sacramento Municipal Utility District in California. Google, Inc. said Tuesday on its Green Blog that it will spend $94 million on the projects. They also will receive equity from SunTap Energy RE LLC, a venture formed by KKR to invest in U.S. solar projects. Read full article > >

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Google and KKR investing in development of California solar power project

The actor, who lives in upstate New York, is at odds with some of his neighbors over natural gas drilling.

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Mark Ruffalo, Actor, Embraces Anti-Fracking Role

Renewable energy has received exceptional help from the government, mostly as part of the 2009 stimulus bill. That is ending, but some say it has been unnecessary.

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A Gold Rush of Subsidies in the Search for Clean Energy

WASHINGTON — Top officials at the White House circulated a plan calling for the ouster of Energy Secretary Steven Chu and other top Energy Department officials as the administration braced for a political storm brewing over the failing solar energy company Solyndra. An email from a clean-energy activist and former official in President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign said Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, was a brilliant man but “not perfect” for other critical DOE missions, including creating jobs. The email from Dan Carol, was circulated by then-Chief of Staff Peter Rouse and seen by more than a dozen senior White House officials. Read full article > >

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Obama administration circulated plan to revamp Energy Department and replace Secretary Chu

The e-mails were released by a Congressional committee investigating the default by the solar power company Solyndra on a $528 million government loan.

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Solyndra E-Mails Released by Lawmakers

The American solar panel makers that filed a trade case against China might find that a legal victory, if it comes, may not translate into business success.

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News Analysis: Chinese Solar Trade Case Has Clear Targets, Not Obvious Goals

A trade case filed by seven American panel makers accuses Chinese makers of “dumping” panels for less than the cost of making them and seeks tariffs on the imports.

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U.S. Solar Panel Makers Accuse Chinese of Trade Violations

It’s been another bad week for government. Another budget impasse. More embarrassing revelations about the federal loan guarantee for a failed solar energy company. And, of course, those $16 muffins. Don’t you wish government could get its act together and perform with the efficiency and competence of the private sector? Read full article > >

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Ah, the efficient private sector. Take the soap opera at HP, for instance.

Industry analysts and government auditors say the administration failed to take note of trouble already evident in the solar energy marketplace.

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In Rush to Assist Solyndra, U.S. Missed Warning Signs

A decision gave Solyndra a chance to survive, but it also forced the government to waive its privilege as first creditor in the event of a bankruptcy, which then occurred.

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Queries Over Government Letting Another Lender Aid Solyndra

The UK government proposes cuts of up to 70% to the feed in tariff for large scale solar energy production.

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UK solar panel subsidies slashed

An ex-Manhattanite decamps to a 60-acre tract deep in West Texas where he lives off the grid, like a modern-day Thoreau.

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House Proud: A Glow in the Desert

The inspector general said poor record-keeping made it hard to document a $71 billion loan guarantee program.

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Inspector Faults Energy Dept. Over Loan Program

Iindustry insiders, eager start-ups and freelance energy enthusiasts survey ideas for solving the planet’s seemingly intractable energy problems at the sixth annual M.I.T. Energy Conference.

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Green: Energy Geeks Converge on M.I.T.

Five solar thermal projects in California are being challenged in court by labor, environmental and American Indian groups.

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Solar Energy Faces Tests On Greenness