Solar may be coming your way!

Congress extended the federal tax incentives for solar energy for another eight years, hoping to stimulate growth in the industry. With the current economic crises' and Americans looking to reduce their energy bills, the increase in interest in solar photovoltaic (PV) technology is expected to drop the price of the PV panels (by far the biggest expense) by 10 percent to 25 percent in the next year. In addition, companies from around the globe are testing technology that allows utility-scale solar thermal power plants to store the heat of the sun in molten salts so they can release it in a controlled manner for electricity production. United Technologies is teaming with US Renewables Group to commercialize a solar-power plant that will use this molten salt system for steam turbine power generation.
The company says plants using this method will be able to generate as much as 500 megawatts of peak power or run continuously at 50 megawatts. One megawatt is enough power to supply about 1,000 U.S. households.