Green solar jobs have arrived in the Hudson River Valley of New York. SpectraWatt, a company that produces silicon photovoltaic cells for solar panels, held a grand opening last week at its factory in Hopewell Junction, N.Y., not far from Poughkeepsie.

New Eni-MIT Energy Center Focuses Solely on the Sun

Last week the Massachusetts Institute of Technology opened a new solar-energy research center. Named the Eni-MIT Solar Frontiers Center, it is funded largely with a grant from Italian energy giant Eni. According to Boston.com, students and faculty will tackle problems such as how to put solar cells on flexible, inexpensive material such as paper; how to use water to store solar energy; and how to make solar panels more efficient.

The New York Public Service Commission set aside $279 million in incentives over the next five years for small-scale renewable energy projects. About $170 million of the total has been tagged for solar-technology projects. The Commission’s approval came on March 25.