Away for a Few Days

I've got guests at the house for the next few days and then it's up to the lake for the holiday weekend, so posts will be sparse. Here are two quick interesting tidbits I just found:

• Solar power continues to show signs of strong growth: 40 percent annual cost reductions in the last five years and by 2014 solar photovoltaic power plants could be cheaper than fossil fuel ones.

• China is now the world's largest consumer of solar power. It's also the largest producer of solar water heaters.