Solar Power

Solar Monorail

Bologna, Italy is getting a new monorail to connect the city with the airport, powered by photovoltaic panels built into the infrastructure.

November 3, 2009 - Inhabitat

Environmental Concerns Slow Solar in California

The White House is pushing for more solar power projects nationwide, but environmental concerns are stalling the progress of plans to build solar projects in the California desert.

October 20, 2009 - The Los Angeles Times

Finding Efficiency At Home, In the Trash

Solar-powered trash compactors, while not cheap, pay for themselves relatively quickly. With state and city budgets more liquid thanks to stimulus money, municipalities are snapping them up.

September 11, 2009 - Slate.com

The Solar Co-op

In Brighton, Colorado, solar panels on one person's farm could be built by an investment from another local, creating the first solar co-operative in the U.S.

September 10, 2009 - The Wall St. Journal

Europe's Plan to Turn Sahara into Solar Power Source

Significant interest and investment has descended on a plan to create vast solar power plants in the Sahara Desert to power Europe, but the challenges are great, says Reuters.

August 28, 2009 - The New Republic

Solar Bus Shelters Debut

San Francisco has begun installing 1,200 new bus shelters that incorporate a solar array on the roof to power an LED display showing bus arrival times.

August 18, 2009 - The Architect's Newspaper

Solar Thermal Power Tower Debuts in U.S.

This week, eSolar debuted the first solar thermal power tower in the U.S., which they say is a step forward in technology and affordability.

August 9, 2009 - Earth2Tech

Taking to the Road? More Power to You

Two inventors explain devices that would allow energy to be harvested along highways and from the highways themselves.

July 27, 2009 - The New York Times

CA's Top Cities for Solar

Environment California has released a study that shows significant growth in the state's solar power construction, and ranks cities by how many solar roofs they have. San Diego is tops.

July 16, 2009 - Environment California

New Power Grid Would Slice Through Rural Areas

Expanding America's power grid to connect wind and solar power plants to the urban areas they fuel will require thousands of miles of transmission lines. Most of it will be built in rural areas where locals are not likely to be very welcoming.

June 30, 2009 - The Daily Yonder

Getting Solar Power Rolling

This profile from Miller-McCune looks at a Berkeley, California official who made use of a 100-year old funding mechanism to take the city solar.

June 25, 2009 - Miller-McCune

Closing the Loop on Energy Use

Architect Michael Palwyn is designing sustainable architecture that combines solar power and seawater into an ultra-efficient loop of resource conservation.

June 22, 2009 - GOOD Magazine

Renewable Energy System is on the Way

President Obama plans to spend billions on building an interstate highway-style system for energy.

June 17, 2009 - Discover Magazine

Smart Grid for a Smart City

Amsterdam has taken its smart grid live, installing solar panels and 300 electric car recharging stations throughout the city.

June 11, 2009 - Business Week

A Solar Car By 2010?

Italian car designer Pininfarina has announced that it will release a fully-electric, partially solar-powered car in Europe in 2010.

June 9, 2009 - Inhabitat

Making Brownfield Sunny

A manufacturer of solar systems has planned to develop the country's largest urban solar power plant at a brownfield in Chicago.

June 5, 2009 - The Architect's Newspaper

Train to Run on Sunshine?

An Arizona company is proposing a solar-powered elevated train running between Tucson and Phoenix.

May 10, 2009 - Arizona Star

Making Clean Energy Reliable

Clean energy is a major component of the Obama Administration's plans for an upgraded electricity grid. But with variable outputs, clean energy generation from solar and wind will need to be augmented, according to this piece from NPR.

May 1, 2009 - NPR

Building the Smart Grid Smartly

In the sixth of a ten-part series, National Public Radio investigates the sustainability of smart grid technology in the places where its likely to be applied.

May 1, 2009 - National Public Radio

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.

Top Books

An annual review of books related to planning.

Top Schools

The definitive ranking of graduate planning programs.

100 Most Influential Urbanists

The who's who of urbanism, according to Planetizen readers.

Urban Planning Creators You Should Know

A short list of voices on social, video, and podcasting platforms.