Two of the hot-button fields of scientific study — nanotechnology and solar energy — are being combined by a team of Arizona State University researchers in an effort to find a cheap source of household energy for the nation’s future.

Solar industry companies from around the nation will gather in Mesa Wednesday for a solar conference that highlights the growing interest in alternative energy as the rest of the economy sinks.

A while back, a prominent American told two close friends: “I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that.”

Several Mesa homeowners looking to convert their homes to solar energy have had to put their plans on hold, as their contractor sorts out a point of contention between Mesa and Salt River Project, one that these homeowners and the contractor say unfairly puts them on the hook.

Solar is getting hotter every day.

WASHINGTON - The Bureau of Land Management Thursday banned new mining claims on 13,735 acres of land in Arizona, one of six Western states where the government is considering “solar-energy zones.”

Arizona could become the nation’s leading generator of solar power but isn’t taking the steps needed to do so, leaving neighboring states to reap the benefits of harnessing the sun’s energy, solar proponents told state lawmakers Thursday.

A home in Scottsdale without air conditioning?

Growth in the solar energy industry, powering ahead at about 30 percent a year, is threatened by the soaring price of polysilicon, the primary material used in photovoltaic cells.

Growth in the solar energy industry, powering ahead at about 30 percent a year, is threatened by the soaring price of polysilicon, the primary material used in photovoltaic cells.

Students attending classes at the East Valley Institute of Technology will benefit from the power of the sun under the Salt River Project’s Solar for Schools program. The EVIT campus is the last of 13 schools in the Valley to receive a 10-kilowatt roof-mounted photovoltaic system.

For the first time since the White Tank Branch Library & Nature Center opened to the public in November 2010, solar energy generated onsite has been sent to the electrical grid for use by Arizona Public Service customers.

For the first time since the White Tank Branch Library & Nature Center opened to the public in November 2010, solar energy generated onsite has been sent to the electrical grid for use by Arizona Public Service customers.

Intel Corp. said Monday it will install rooftop solar panels at its Ocotillo and Chandler Boulevard complexes in Chandler as part of a companywide solar electric program.

Many companies these days talk about being green and their commitment to the environment, but it takes more than a good marketing campaign to make a true investment in a greener future for tomorrow.

Ahwatukee Foothills resident Glenn Schulke unfolds a supple 4-foot nylon sheet, into which circuitry for capturing solar energy has been woven, and slaps it down on a table.

Ahwatukee Foothills resident Glenn Schulke unfolds a supple 4-foot nylon sheet, into which circuitry for capturing solar energy has been woven, and slaps it down on a table.

Ahwatukee Foothills resident Glenn Schulke unfolds a supple 4-foot nylon sheet, into which circuitry for capturing solar energy has been woven, and slaps it down on a table.

ECOtality, a Scottsdale-based alternative energy company, said today it will acquire a San Diego solar energy firm, adding to the local company’s portfolio of renewable energy technologies.

Mesa is preparing to bolster incentives to residents and businesses who want to cut their electric bills by installing solar panels.

Mesa is preparing to bolster incentives to residents and businesses who want to cut their electric bills by installing solar panels.

Mesa is preparing to bolster incentives to residents and businesses who want to cut their electric bills by installing solar panels.

The Sun Devils will become sun harvesters after embarking on the largest-scale solar energy project of any university in the nation.

LAKE HAVASU CITY -- Two huge solar projects got the green light Monday from Mohave County supervisors.