Last week, as part of the 2010 MIT Energy Conference, the institute opened the doors to its energy research projects. Press and other interested parties got a first look at technologies that could one day make renewable energy abundant, cheap and more deployable. These cutting-edge technologies were presented by a handful of MIT faculty and students who showed some innovations in the solar, hydrogen and energy storage areas that are on the road to commercialization.

As the books close on what was a turbulent 2009 for the solar industry, Lux Research said that the solar market will soon see the lopsided supply and demand that characterized much of the last year return to equilibrium. According to the new report Solar's Shakeout: Europe Loses Leadership as China Rises," strong demand growth in Asia and the U.S. will push the market to 9.3 GW in 2010, hitting a dollar value of US $39 billion. Building from there, continuing price reductions for all types of solar technology are expected to open new markets and help the solar industry reach $77 billion in revenue and 26.4 GW in capacity by 2015.