Learned something new while reading an old article I had lying around. In an article written by Casey Ross at the Boston Globe, Photovoltaics was explained. The article describes photovoltaics as the most promising and popular form of solar energy. Photovoltaics is sunlight converted into electricity. Very different from solar power. Sunlight is made of small particles of energy called photons. Once absorbed by and pass through the material of a solar cell, they agitate the electrons in the photovoltaic panel. When they move, they are routed into a current. Technically, this is electricity. 

An East Coast project is underway to solar power apartment complexes. Another is by developer, John Rosenthal, who wants to build what would be the state’s largest solar installation.
For  more information, visit http://www.worldofphotovoltaics.com/showthread.php?p=1424

On an additional note, a San Jose based company, SunPower is the current market leader in solar panel efficiency (measured by energy conversion ratio). SunPower’s cells have a conversion ratio of 23.4%, well above the market average of 12-18%. 

Kinda cool that local companies/towns are frontrunners… In 2006 investors began offering free solar panel installation in return for a 25 year contract, or ‘Power Purchase agreement’ to purchase electricity at a fixed price, normally set at or below current electric rates.

I read somewhere that by  2009, over 90% of commercial photovoltaics installed in the United States will be installed using a power purchase agreement.  Talk about win-win, in some cases, the homeowner pays over a 20 year period at a rate equal to the annual electric bill savings. Free installation for the homeowner + no cost to the city is a great equation!  

To learn more on photovoltaics, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photovoltaic#cite_note-18