With SunPower and Solaria already operating solar manufacturing plants here, the Philippines could become a profitable "Solar Valley"

The solar power industry these days is a mix of large and small companies pushing their own technologies. The playing field is still wide open for competing solar panel technologies. Eventually, the market will decide which ones will be left standing and which ones will eat the dust.

If Mitsubishi Motors chief Osamu Masuko is unduly concerned about slumping auto sales in the U.S., Japan, and Europe he wasn’t showing it at a media lunch in Tokyo today.

While realistic about the current global economic situation and its impact on auto sales, he emphasized the progress made at the automaker since its painful divorce from DaimlerChrysler three years ago, which followed recall scandals in Japan and a disastrous incentive scheme in the U.S. The carmaker probably wouldn’t have survived if it wasn’t for a $2.6 billion lifeline from other Mitsubishi keiretsu partners.

Tesla says it will build a $60,000 five-passenger luxury sedan with a lithium-ion battery pack capable of delivering 240 miles per charge

SSC is developing the Ultimate Aero EV, a 500 bhp electric sports car that will come to market in late 2009

The all-electric two-seater is designed to shorten its wheelbase for city driving by an ingenious hydraulic tilting system

A restructuring under new CEO Morelli is fueling a turnaround at the alternative energy company, driven by fat profits at its solar products unit

Is the group's recent run-up a solar flare or a sign of bigger things to come?

Solar energy stocks are hot once again, with shares of industry players jumping as much as 58% in the past month. Much of that bounce is due to nearly uniformly positive quarterly earnings reports from some solar outfits. Company executives were able to allay investors' fears about declining demand and lower prices for solar panels and related materials, concerns that were fueled by a sharp reduction of government subsidies in countries such as Spain.

The Japanese auto giant has slashed its sales estimate for 2009 by 7%, but demand for green models will ease the pain

It's a sign of how tough times are for the world's automakers when even Toyota (TM), the world's most profitable automaker and soon to be the biggest, has to slash sales forecasts. In Tokyo on Aug. 28, Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe said the company now expects to sell 9.7 million vehicles in 2009, down from a previous figure of 10.4 million.

Tough congestion fees in Britain's capital have prompted drivers to try out new cars that use alternative fuels

Formerly a traffic nightmare, London city center has become a playground for drivers of alternative energy cars. Since the British capital introduced a congestion charge of 8 pounds sterling for each conventional car between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m., Londoners have begun trying out new models that discharge less CO2, freeing drivers from the fee.

The electric Cube was pretty nimble on the test track, but the new hybrid raises as many questions as it answers

I just got back from driving Nissan's (NSANY) much hyped new electric car and hybrid. The press event, held in searing heat at an advanced technology showcase 90 minutes outside Tokyo, was the first chance that reporters have had to check out the Japanese automaker's new environmental techs.