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"Oakland, CA - In a rare move for advocacy groups, the SolarontheWhiteHouse.com campaign has created "Power the House," a fun, engaging way to continue fueling buzz and momentum around the national call for President Obama to put solar panels back on the White House. Using Brushfire technology, the game is accessed through social media sites Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and FourSquare where solar advocates can earn points by completing solar missions. Players earn points based on how they virally spread the word about the campaign. Player status levels include Solar Maven, Solar Organizer, Solar Senator and Globamanator. The highest scorers will receive glow in the dark Globama t-shirts and other solar merchandise, and in addition to bragging rights through their social networks, the "Ultimate Solar Advocate" will be named in a nation-wide press release when the campaign reaches 10,000 petition signatures. "As part of our initiative to get solar on the White House we've created a fun, social-media-linked site to help fans get involved and spread the word," said Danny Kennedy, Sungevity Founder. "We like to think of it this as 'campaign headquarters' where advocates and supporters can check in daily and get armed to continue to get the message out that solar starts at home.""

General Motors has announced it will work directly with A123 Systems, a start-up based in Watertown, MA, to develop batteries that are fine-tuned for the Chevrolet Volt, an electric vehicle scheduled for production in 2010 or 2011. The new agreement between the companies is designed to speed the vehicle to market.

"This bill will provide the first real boost to the renewable energy storage industry, as it secures a clean energy future for California. To bring 2.25% of peak demand in storage online, Jon Petersen estimates that (with 135 MW a year of storage needed) $200 million each year will need to be invested, along with the new jobs that all that new investment brings."

According to last week's investigation on the balance of plant for PV systems, that means a new copper demand of 16,000 to 160,000 tonnes for the year. A good median estimate is 50,000 - 60,000 tonne.