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The Samsung PX2370 review is consistently the most popular monitor review on CNET. Not surprisingly, since it's the monitor I recommend the most, on nearly a daily basis, through other monitor reviews and nearly every monitor-related blog post (kind of like this one).

The PX2370's design, price, performance, and features make it one of the best TN displays we've ever reviewed. As with most hit movies, though, living up to the magic of the first film in a sequel is daunting to say the least.

The Samsung SyncMaster S23A550H, Samsung's 2011 follow-up to the PX2370, thanks … Read more

The Department of Energy has issued a $1.4 billion conditional loan guarantee to fund a massive project that would install solar panels on unused industrial roof space across the U.S.

Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced yesterday that support for Project Amp would come from American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 funds.

The project's aim is ambitious, with a goal of installing 733 megawatts' worth of photovoltaic solar panels across 28 states within the next four years. Once complete, the Project Amp solar panels are expected to generate enough electricity to power over 88,000 U.S. … Read more

1366 Technologies, a start-up created to make solar electricity cheaper than coal, is set to receive a loan to build its first factories, bringing the 4-year-old company closer to its goal.

The Lexington, Mass.-based company said today that the Department of Energy has offered a $150 million loan to build two plants to ramp up its process of making silicon wafers used in solar photovoltaic panels. The loan is a conditional commitment where the company needs to meet certain operational targets, according to a representative

With the loan, 1366 Technologies intends to build a plant in Massachusetts scheduled to … Read more

The Department of Energy has offered conditional loan guarantees totaling $2 billion to two concentrated solar projects in California, Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced yesterday.

Both projects employ mirrored parabolic solar thermal troughs that reflect and concentrate solar energy to heat pipes containing heat transfer liquid, usually synthetic oil. That hot liquid is then used to generate steam and power a turbine generator that produces electricity.

Specifically, a $1.2 billion loan guarantee has been offered to the 250-megawatt Mojave Solar Project in San Bernardino County. Once fully operational, the farm is expected to generate enough electricity to power 53,… Read more

A Department of Energy project will test how refrigerator-size fuel cells fit a niche in the energy system of serving up heat and electricity to businesses and schools.

The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory will administer the $2.8 million program to install 38 fuel cells from ClearEdge Power at 10 businesses. The program provides up to 50 percent of the total cost of installation and will gather data remotely on the performance of the fuel cell-equipped systems, which will range between 5 and 100 kilowatts of power.

ClearEdge Power's fuel cells use natural gas as a fuel to generate … Read more

Cogentrix Energy has been granted a $90.6 million conditional loan guarantee from the Department of Energy to build a 30-megawatt concentrated photovoltaic solar plant in Alamosa, Colo., the company announced yesterday

The company also said it plans to source a minimum of 80 percent of the solar farm components from within the U.S. That promise is significant given the size and scope of the solar farm, and its technology.

The Alamosa Solar Generating Project will be the largest solar project in the world using high concentrated photovoltaics (HCPVs) with a dual-axis tracking system. That means that each concentrated … Read more

Google and more than 80 other companies are collaborating with the Department of Energy to make it simple for drivers of electric vehicles to find parts and charging sites.

Via a partnership called the GeoEVSE Forum, the organizations are pooling their data to build a definitive database of all available EV charging stations in the U.S. regardless of the manufacturer or network, the DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory said yesterday.

The GPS and mapping system database will also include all available electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) stations.

While the data will be organized using Google mapping tools, it … Read more

The U.S. Department of Energy is offering $2.1 billion in conditional loan guarantees to support what will be the world's biggest solar power plant, the government's largest commitment to date to solar energy.

The aid will support construction of the first two units of Solar Trust of America's 1,000 megawatt solar thermal Blythe Solar Power Project, the DOE said yesterday. Solar Trust of America is a joint venture between German companies Solar Millennium and Ferrostaal.

"For the first time in mankind's history, a solar power facility will be built at a scale … Read more

BrightSource Energy said today it has secured financing for a utility-scale solar plant in the California desert, the first project of this type to be built in the U.S. in decades.

The Oakland, Calif.-based company said that it has finalized $1.6 billion in loans guaranteed from the U.S. Department of Energy for the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System, a facility which will have three concentrating solar thermal plants.

The company also said today Google will invest $168 million in equity into the project, joining BrightSource and NRG Solar, a division of utility NRG. The Ivanpah facility … Read more