Michael Kanellos 04 21 09, 12:29 PM

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Convert Your Car to Electric for $20K Plus Labor

If you can't wait until next year or 2011 when a number of manufacturers should have plug-in town cars on the market, you can make one now with a DIY kit form Leo Motors.

For $20,000, Leo will send you a conversion kit with a 16-kWh power pack filled with lithium-ion polymer batteries, an electric motor and other hardware. Lithium-polymer batteries tend to have lower energy density than cellular batteries, but you can squeeze the polymer into nooks and crannies.

The company converted a Kia to run on electric power.

When you add it up, it's not cheap. Assume the car goes for $15,000, the total equipment costs runs $35,000. That's for an economy car. At that point, you might as well invest in a Prius, or one of those Think cars from Norway. But you will be one of the first on the block to have one.

“This solution is more than a kit to convert small to midsize cars into electric vehicles,” said Robert Kang, Chairman and CEO of Leo Motors in a prepared statement.

Ucilia Wang 04 21 09, 11:02 AM

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First Solar, Juwi to Co-Develop 53MW Project in Germany

First Solar and Juwi Holding plan to co-develop a 53-megawatt power plant in Germany.

The companies said they would install 700,000 solar panels on 162 hectares that were part of an old Soviet Army’s base north of the city of Cottbus in eastern Germany. Construction began in January this year, and the companies said they already have completed the first 15 megawatts. They expect to finish the rest of the project by the end of this year.

As usual, the companies didn’t disclose the cost of the developing the power plant, except to say that they have been able to borrow 80 percent of the capital from a group of banks. Tempe, Ariz.-based First Solar, which makes cadmium-telluride panels, said the plan is to sell a majority stake after the project is completed.

At 53 megawatts, the project also would be one of the world's largest power plants that is built with solar panels.

The project reflects the aggressive approach First Solar is taking in power project development business, and in boosting demand for its solar panels at a time when the weak economy is making it difficult for some of First Solar’s panel customers to find financing for developing projects.

Juwi is a power project developer in Germany, and has built and operated solar, wind and biomass power plants.

Last week, First Solar said it snagged a contract to build a 48-megawatt solar energy farm for Sempra Energy, which plans to sell power to a utility. First Solar also recently spent $400 million buying gigawatts worth of unfinished projects from OptiSolar.