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Mitsubishi Electric, Toshiba and Showa Shell yesterday each unveiled plans to boost their solar panel production.Shigeaki Kameda, president of Showa Shell's solar subsidiary, said the company intended to become the world's largest producer of thin-film photovoltaic panels, with the business eventually rivalling its Y3,000bn ($33.6bn) oil-refining and petrol operations in scale.Mitsubishi said it hoped to produce 600 megawatts' worth of photovoltaic cells annually by the financial year to March 2012, up from 220MW.Toshiba, which makes residential solar-power systems, said it was aiming to take 10 per cent of the Japanese domestic market by the year to March 2013.

New energy efficiency standards for home water heaters being proposed by the US Administration do not go far enough, says the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE).The new standards will cover the nine million residential water heaters sold every year that account for an estimated 20% of a typical homes’ energy consumption. Savings on the order of 2.6 quads of energy over 30 years will result, says the Department of Energy (DOE), reducing customers bills by around $15.6 billion and emissions by 154 million metric tons.

The first solar-powered air conditioner that can also send energy to the grid has rolled off the production line of China’s largest residential air-conditioner manufacturer Gree Electric Appliances.

The Arkansas Energy Office (AEO), a division of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, today announced 'Track and Save',  a new program that will allow library patrons the opportunity to check out kilowatt meters from public libraries throughout Arkansas to measure energy use at home.

The report identifies five key findings, as follows: There is a significant contradiction between consumer perceptions and their actual knowledge of energy efficiency. Consumers’ first instinct is to contact utilities/electricity providers for energy-efficiency activities, but providers still need to build trust and credibility. While prices remain a key factor to adoption, the extent of the utilities’/providers’ control over energy use has emerged as a potential barrier. Channels and contact points for utilities/electricity providers to communicate with consumers are diverse. Adoption of electricity management programs is influenced by fragmented and nontraditional consumer preferences.