By Tom Beal

Tucson, Arizona | Published: 09.25.2009

The UA-run Phoenix Mars lander scraped the surface of our planetary neighbor to verify the presence of frozen water on Mars, and now cameras orbiting the red planet have found a meter-thick layer of nearly pure ice in recently formed craters.

A subterranean ice sheet may extend from the planet’s north pole to its middle latitudes, researchers said Thursday.

“Every indication is that this is forming a broad, continuous sheet beneath the surface, said Shane Byrne of the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Lab.

That would “come close to covering half the planet in a million cubic kilometers of ice,” Byrne said.

ACC must approve plan, which would begin in mid-2010

By Dale Quinn

Tucson, Arizona | Published: 09.25.2009

Tucson Electric Power Co. wants to give its customers the opportunity to invest in new solar arrays to be built next year.

Participants in the Bright Tucson Community Solar Program would be able to purchase a share of solar energy by adding $3 to their monthly bills.

The Arizona Corporation Commission must first approve the project, which would begin in mid-2010 and allow customers to purchase 150-kilowatt blocks of solar energy generated by local photovoltaic arrays, which convert sunlight into electricity. Customers could add or subtract blocks or leave the program at any time, said TEP spokesman Joe Salkowski.

Tucson, Arizona | Published: 09.21.2009

There’s enough noonday sunlight striking the University of Arizona campus to produce 1.5 gigawatts of electricity and power all of Tucson.

Sunny skies are a key reason Tucson has attracted several companies in the solar energy industry. Economic-development officials say the city is taking its place as a solar-business hot spot of the world.

To spread that message, Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities Inc. hosted several journalists last week from around the United States, including some who report for media in solar-conscious Germany. TREO paid $4,300 in travel expenses to get them here for a few days.

Here’s how TREO peddled Tucson’s solar industry to them:

By Ian Friedman

Arizona Daily Star

Tucson, Arizona | Published: 09.17.2009

Aiming to make solar energy less costly and more efficient, a company in Tucson is using the concept of the prism to fundamentally change the way sunlight is captured.

New York-based Prism Solar Technologies Inc., which has its research center in Tucson, is poised to begin production of solar materials that redirect and concentrate sunlight to boost efficiency and reduce the use of precious silicon.

Prism Solar, which is headquartered in Highland, N.Y. has been able to replace a large percentage of the crystalline silicon, which is normally used in solar modules, with its patented Holographic Planar Concentrator film, making the units less expensive and more efficient, said Jessica Barry, the company’s director of business development.

Arizona Daily Star

Tucson, Arizona | Published: 09.15.2009

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Registration has opened for Idea Funding 2009, a daylong event that helps entrepreneurs tap into funding for their startup businesses.

The event will be held Nov. 5 from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Tucson Marriott University Park, 880 E. Second St. The event costs $85 with preregistration or $100 at the door.

For more details and registration, go to http://www.ideafunding.org

Inside Tucson Business
Published on Friday, September 11, 2009

Doug Goodman, CEO of Ridgetop Group, moved to Tucson after 23 years in Portland, Ore., where he earned his MBA degree. Earlier, Goodman completed a degree in electrical engineering from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. It should be no surprise that combination of degrees yielded a technology entrepreneur.

Even when he got here, Goodman was no stranger to Southern Arizona. “I’d been coming here for years working at Fort Huachuca,” Goodman said. “My wife liked the area. At first we came for winters and finally bought a condominium and settled in.”

That condo, complete with card table and a computer, turned out to be the birthplace of Ridgetop Group in 1999. A decade later, the company now has 35 employees.