Silicon Valley, the perennial epicenter for all forms of innovation and investment in technology has now started to face stiff competition mainly from the country of China, says San Jose Mercury News. This is a quote from the article, “China has started doing it. Europe has started to do it. If we do not start taking a lead, instead of wasting having to import oil, we are going to be forced to start importing new advanced technologies.” Not each and every thing that happens in the field of solar energy has its roots in California and China. What of the mid west? A company in Ohio recently received a grant of $1.2 million for developing and testing various acrylic mirrors which could be used for boosting solar panel’s efficiency as they work on concentrating the rays of the sun according to the Mansfield News Journal.

In the Los Angeles Times, there is an article which talks about the latest plan to do with shaping Owens valley which is supposed to help boost the production of solar power and also improve the quality of air in Los Angeles. The administration of Obama submitted a proposed budget for the year of 2011 on Monday, says Reuters. In this budget, they are asking the Congress to give them a little bit of money from the $36.5 million that is set aside for oil & gas companies saying that this would help foster a clean energy economy in the future & also reduce the reliance that we currently have on fossil fuels which are contributing tremendously to the change in climate.

Sheila McNulty from Energy Source says that the plan of the president was good for federal coffers but this does not mean that it is good for maintaining as well as promoting research and development for the oil & gas companies. The head of the Solar Energy Industries Association, Rhone Resch says that the budget of the administration included a $302 million funding that was meant for various solar energy programs which was an increase of 22% over the last year. The Huffington Posts, Jeff Schweitzer has a lot of problems with China, the budget asked for by Obama and the green jobs that are supposed to be created. Trina Solar, who are a huge manufacturer of solar modules & cells from China claim that they will be announcing their results for the fourth quarter on the 24th of February.