BusinessWire – Press Release

Extends Long-Standing Partnership Between Two Leading Solar Companies

NPR – Melissa Block

When most people think about wind power, a vast field of gigantic turbines spinning on a ridgeline might come to mind. Well, that’s big wind.

But another part of the wind power industry is thinking small – as in turbines that are the right size to power a single home or business. And one of the hottest ideas blowing around is the concept of roof-top turbines that generate energy right at the point of use.

One Essential Ingredient

Reno, Nev.-based Mariah Power makes a turbine called the Windspire. And one of these skinny, 30-foot-tall turbines can be found in the heart of Washington D.C., at the foot of Capitol Hill. It’s in front of the United States Botanic Garden – and the gardens’ conservation horticulturist Ray Mims came up with the idea to put it there for an exhibit on sustainability.

“People think it’s a kinetic sculpture,” Mims says. “[It] doesn’t look like a typical wind turbine or windmill.” (Full Article)

BusinessWire – Press Release

Small Wind Company Brings Innovative Small Wind System to Homes and Businesses

RENO, Nev.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Building on the success of the Windspire wind turbine (www.mariahpower.com) in the United States market, small-wind technology company Mariah Power today announced the official launch of the Windspire wind turbine for European countries. The launch coincides with the introduction of a 230 volt inverter which enables the Windspire to connect to European grid specifications. European customers are now able to order Windspire wind turbines through a growing network of international dealers which currently includes representatives in wind-rich countries like Denmark and France. Mariah Power is aggressively building a network of international Windspire dealers to expand to new countries that also utilize similar electric grids. (Full Article)

BusinessWire – Press Release

Companies, Customers, and Industry Visionaries Honored for Successes in the CRM Marketplace over the Previous 12 Months

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–CRM magazine, the industry’s leading publication, announced the winners of its 2009 CRM Market Awards here today, in conjunction with the magazine’s CRM Evolution 2009 conference.

With its eighth annual CRM Market Awards, CRM magazine honors the vendors, consultants, and end-user companies that focus on customer relationships and the customer experience through the sophisticated integration of people, processes, and technologies. In each of 10 categories, the magazine named one Market Winner, denoting the highest score compared to its peers. Each category also produced four Market Leader awards and “One to Watch.” (Full Article)

Renewable Energy World – Press Release

Sonoma’s Financing Program and groSolar’s Group Rebate Make Now the Time to Go Solar

Sonoma County’s Energy Independence Program (SCEIP) is the most successful municipal solar financing program in the nation, and is proving to be the silver bullet for renewable energy development. Local solar installer groSolar is taking the program to the streets with a month-long door-to-door and event campaign to offer a group rebate to Santa Rosa and Petaluma residents, which makes solar power more affordable than ever before.

“There are incredible economic advantages these days for going solar, and people are taking action, particularly here in Sonoma,” said Kevin Gage, groSolar’s regional manager. “groSolar knows how to leverage these incentives for people, and we make it fast, easy, and cost-effective for both residential and commercial property-owners in California to generate their own electricity from the sun. To top it off, we’re offering to cover 33 percent of the first year of solar-loan payments for Petaluma and Santa Rosa homeowners if we can get 50 people in those towns signed up for the program by the end of 2009.” (Full Article)

Marketplace – Rick Barrett

It looks like metal lawn art, although it’s much taller than a typical backyard sculpture.

Very quiet with a propeller-free design, the Windspire power turbine captures the power of the wind to generate electricity. It could reduce your electric bill by about 20%, according to the manufacturer – provided you live in a windy location.

On Friday, the first Windspire dealership in Wisconsin held an open house to show off the power turbines.
They’re made in Michigan by workers who lost their jobs at an automotive parts factory. (Full Article)

Richmond Daily Journal – Bryan Stewart

Scotland County’s flat terrain and the proximity of the I-74 corridor were major factors in the decision to build North Carolina’s largest solar power farm there, according to a company planning to build it.

A proposed solar farm was approved by a unanimous vote this week, clearing the first hurdle for its development, according to the Laurinburg Exchange.

The proposal will come before Laurinburg City Council Tuesday where they will set a public hearing. Public hearings are usually set for the following council meeting, which is Sept. 21.

The proposed solar farm – a 2.3 megawatt solar photovoltaic array – would be the largest in the state, according to energy officials. (Full Article)

Renewable Energy World – Press Release

New incentives make solar a sound real-estate investment

Salem, Mass. — The first question most people ask when considering solar is, “how long until solar pays off?” When Princeton Properties CEO Andrew Chaban found out from national solar installer and distributor, groSolar, that installing solar electric on the company’s Salem apartments would pay for itself in less than a year, he was more than a little curious.groSolar is designing the 347 kilowatt project, expected to begin installation in September. The project will consist of close to 2,000 roof-mounted photovoltaic panels and will power 100 percent of the common areas in the Princeton Crossing apartment community on Heritage Drive in Salem. Common areas in the 300,375 square-foot complex range from the parking lot lights to the laundry facilities. The solar electric system will result in an estimated annual savings of $73,000 in the site’s electric bill. (Full Article)

 Reuters – Business Wire Press Release

Reseller Agreement Extends HID Labs’ Reach to Area’s Agribusiness, Major Retailers, Other Industries MENLO PARK, Calif.–(Business Wire)– HID Laboratories (www.hidlabs.com), a provider of intelligent high-intensity lighting solutions, has signed Green Energy USA of Bakersfield, a leading supplier of lighting and power management technology in California’s Central Valley, as a reseller of HID’s SmartPod Luminaire lighting system.

Businesses that will benefit most from this new energy-efficient lighting technology include major agribusiness companies, large-scale cold storage operations, warehouse facilities, mass merchandise retail outlets, manufacturing and industrial operations, as well as gymnasiums, auditoriums, arenas and convention centers. (Full Article)

Triangle Business Journal – By Frank Vinluan

Progress Energy announced Monday that it has reached a deal with energy financing firm MP2 Capital to build what could become the largest solar energy facility in the Raleigh-based utility’s Carolinas territory.

The planned 2.3 megawatt solar array to be built in Laurinburg, about 100 miles south of Raleigh, is expected to come online in the next six months, though a precise site has not yet been determined. The power that MP2 generates from operating the facility will be sold to Progress for distribution to its customers. (Full Article)

Pitchengine – Press Release 

City Launches First Green Initiative with Wind Power Test for Boardwalk Lighting Needs

LONG BRANCH, NEW JERSEY- Kicking off its first major green initiative, the City of Long Branch installed a small wind turbine off Ocean Boulevard to determine the feasibility of powering the boardwalk lighting with clean wind power. The City chose a Windspire vertical wind turbine (www.mariahpower.com) for the three month test in which the City will collect data on the amount of energy the Windspire can produce as well as the reaction to the wind appliance from local officials and hundreds of thousand visitors to the popular recreation area. If the test proves successful, city officials intend to install multiple Windspire wind turbines to help power many more boardwalk lights. (Full Article)

FierceWireless – PRNewswire Press Release

EMERYVILLE, Calif., Aug. 6 /PRNewswire/ — MobiTV, Inc., announced today that Anders Norstrom has been appointed Chief Operating Officer, effective immediately. Possessing more than 15 years of experience in the mobile and communications industries, Norstrom has spent the last two years overseeing and managing the global deployment of MobiTV’s mobile content and delivery services as Managing Director of Europe. (Full Article)

SearchCRM – Barney Beal, News Director

The explosive growth of social networks is extending into established CRM vendors’ technology.

This summer has seen a steady stream of new releases geared toward leveraging the popularity of the intersection of social networking and CRM, often referred to as social CRM. Just a few of the features recently released include: integration between Twitter and CRM records from Salesforce.com, fromRightNow Technologies and from Microsoft Dynamics CRM; Social CRM from Lithium Technologies to link online social communities and CRM; Social CRM from Zendesk and Get Satisfaction to unite help desk capabilities and Web 2.0; a a Social Sales application from Marketo and CoTweet, a Twitter collaboration start-up, allowing users to track marketing efforts across Twitter. (Full Article)