The Clean Energy Show
The Clean Energy Show
James Whittingham and Brian Stockton
Perpetual Motion Solar Car?
47 minutes Posted Aug 12, 2026 at 10:05 am.
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California's new "My First EV" rebate is proving that people really do like free money, with the $270 million incentive program already being snapped up. Plus, Clemson University students have built a remarkably lightweight solar-powered EV designed to generate more energy than it uses, and a centuries-old British cheese maker is saving money and cutting emissions with a heat pump that uses warm milk as its heat source.

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This week on The Clean Energy Show:

  • California's $270 million "My First EV" rebate program is being rapidly exhausted, offering $3,500 toward new EVs and $1,750 toward used EVs.
  • Clemson University's Deep Orange 17 solar EV packs more than 1,700 solar cells into its body and weighs just 550 kilograms.
  • The solar car could potentially add about 50 kilometres of range from a typical 20-kilometre urban commute.
  • Barber's Farmhouse Cheesemakers, operating since 1833, is using "milk-source" heat pumps to simultaneously cool milk and heat water.
  • The heat pumps have cut the cheese maker's electricity use in half, saving about $94,000 a year and reducing emissions by nearly 66 tonnes annually.
  • The Philippines is cutting red tape for small self-consumption and zero-export solar installations.
  • More than 7 GW of Chinese solar panels have been imported or are on their way to the Philippines this year.

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