Steven Chu will step down as Secretary of Energy at the end of this month, though he “may stay beyond that time so that I can leave the Department in the hands of the new Secretary,” he wrote in a farewell letter to Department of Energy (DoE) staff, issued February 1. Regardless, when Chu leaves [...]

In 1993, Americans elected the first physicist to Congress: Vern Ehlers, a Republican from Michigan. Just six years later, former assistant director of Princeton’s Plasma Physics Laboratory, Rush Holt, a Democrat from New Jersey, joined him. And in 2008, Fermilab physicist and Illinois Democrat Bill Foster joined them, only to lose re-election in 2010 before [...]

Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Commerce released its final ruling on a new set of tariffs on Chinese solar panel imports. According to their announcement, most Chinese firms that sell solar cells or panels in the U.S. could face tariffs between 34% and 47%. But, some tariffs could top 250%. This ruling comes as the [...]

Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced that the government will be increasing the tariffs on solar panels imported from China. All Chinese solar imports will now face tariffs of up to 4.73 percent, depending on the specific panel manufacturer. All but two Chinese solar manufacturers will face a 3.59% tariff. Trina Solar and Suntech [...]

In September, headlines erupted when the solar company, Solyndra, announced that it would be filing for bankruptcy just 2 years after the company received $535 million in federal loan guarantees under the Recovery Act. The situation quickly led to questions about why this company failed. And, according to recent discussions and yesterday’s testimony by energy Secretary Chu, the root [...]

Solyndra, once viewed as a sure winner in the solar industry, has closed its doors. Their technology works and they appear to have reached their goals for cost reductions. But, just 16 months after President Obama visited their manufacturing site and only 2 years after the Department of Energy approved $535 million in federal loan [...]