Government agencies using solar power may soon be ditching their panels in favor of paint brushes. Researchers at the University of Notre Dame’s Center for Nano Science and Technology (NDnano) have developed a “solar paint” that can be applied on to a conductive surface, such as transparent conducting glass or plastic, that turns the energy of the sun into electricity.
The project consisted of taking nano-sized particles of titanium dioxide, coating them with either cadmium sulfide or cadmium selenide and suspending them in a water-alcohol mixture to create the paint. The semiconducting nanoparticles — called quantum dots — were mixed into a one-coat spreadable paste that can generate power, without using any special equipment. 

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- With today's fiscal climate, Edwards Air Force Base is always looking for good ways to save money.
One area where Edwards is looking to save is energy costs.
After three years of planning and coordination with Southern California Edison, the California Public Utilities Commission and environmental agencies, workers are now building solar farms on base.

from: Carrington College

Furniture giant, IKEA, just switched on a 573-kW solar power system, which covers 65,000 square feet of space at their Sacramento, California store. The array is made up of approximately 2,548 panels and will help to cut 630 tons of carbon dioxide per year from the atmosphere. The solar array is the eighth solar power project that IKEA has finished in the US, and they still have plans to build twelve more — four more in California and eight on the East Coast.