Tech Times: Germany Warns Drivers Against Using So-Called Autopilot

The government of Germany has issued a warning to all owners of Tesla Motors electric vehicles in the country regarding the usage of the controversial Autopilot function.

According to the Federal Motor Authority, the Autopilot feature of Tesla Motors is a driver assistance system and does not provide vehicles with autonomous driving capabilities. As such, even with the feature turned on, drivers will need to keep their attention on the road at all times.

The warning letter was sent out just after Germany's Federal Highway Research Institute released a new study on the system, which found that the Autopilot feature is a "considerable traffic hazard."

NY Times News Service: Vermont Wind Project Needs Votes, so Company Offers to Pay Voters

To many residents in this tiny town in southern Vermont, the last-minute offer of cash was a blatant attempt to buy their votes.

To the developer that offered the money, it was simply a sign of how attentively the company had been listening to voters’ concerns.

The company, Iberdrola Renewables, a Spanish energy developer, wants to build Vermont’s largest wind project on a private forest tract that spans Windham and the adjacent town of Grafton. The project would consist of 24 turbines, each nearly 500 feet tall, and generate 82.8 megawatts of power, enough to light 42,000 homes for a year if the wind kept blowing, though the houses could be in Connecticut or Massachusetts.

Motley Fool: Solar Tariffs Are Failing as Chinese Manufacturers Find Workarounds

Three years ago, European Union members thought they had come up with a good solution to fighting Chinese subsidies for solar manufacturers when they put a price floor on imports in place. They argued that the price minimum would allow local manufacturers to compete rather than giving up the solar manufacturing industry to China.

Today, the pricing structure is falling apart as manufacturers move manufacturing to get around rules and the price floor becomes irrelevant based on today's costs.

ABC News: Tesla Says It Hopes to Work With Panasonic on Solar Energy

U.S. electric-car maker Tesla says it plans to start working with Japanese electronics company Panasonic Corp. on solar energy.

Panasonic had no immediate comment Monday on Tesla's statement on its corporate blog that the companies have signed a non-binding letter of intent to begin collaborating on production of photovoltaic cells and modules at Panasonic's facility in Buffalo, New York.

The deal requires shareholders' approval of Tesla's planned acquisition of San Mateo, California-based solar-panel company SolarCity Corp.

Bloomberg: Sonnen Considering IPO in Bid to Rival Tesla Powerwall Storage

Sonnen GmbH, a German solar-energy-storage maker that competes against Tesla Motors Inc.’s Powerwall battery, may pursue an initial share sale as early as 2017 to develop additional services.

The company, formed in 2010 in Bavaria, sold its 10,000th battery this year and is taking on new stakeholders ahead of a potential IPO, according to its founder, Christoph Ostermann. Sonnen gained $85 million in a fresh financing round this fall, helped by new stakeholders Envision Energy and Thomas Putter, the former chairman of Allianz Capital Partners GmbH, said Ostermann.