Permits issued by Catawba County show that the Cupertino, Calif., company has been approved to reshape the slope of some of the 171 acres of vacant land it owns on Startown Road, opposite the data center, in preparation of building a solar farm. — charlotteobserver.com

Google, the investor in this case, will technically own the solar panels, while the maintenance and upkeep responsibility of the solar panels stays with the installer and Clean Power Finance. The homeowners, who are essentially giving roof space in exchange for a chance to buy solar-generated electricity, will pay a monthly fee. Google's return on investment comes via the electricity that is generated by the solar panels and sold to customers. — news.cnet.com

Swiss design firm RAFAA has shared with us their entry to the invited competition for Ivanpah, a 392-megawatt solar thermal power facility currently being built by BrightSource Energy Inc in the Californian Mojave Desert. The project - which counts NRG Solar, Google and BrightSource as equity investors - is currently the largest solar plant under construction in the world. — bustler.net

Diawa Lease just sent Inhabitat the first photos of their new transforming EDV-1 shelter, which can be set on any terrain, doubles in size with the flick of a switch, and can sustain itself without any outside resources for up to a month by catching and reusing water and generating electricity with a huge built-in solar array. —

The citizens living off the Han River in Seoul, South Korea inaugurated the world’s largest floating island just last week. The stunning structure includes a 700 seat convention hall, restaurants and arcades — all powered by solar energy. When the development is completed, a trio of islands will be linked together by twenty-three weather-proof chains. — Inhabitat