Fernando de Noronha is one of Brazil’s eco hot spots, famous for its breathtaking geography, surf and marine life. The archipelago lies 220 miles off Rio Grande do Norte state and is a UN World Heritage Site.

An agreement signed on December 26 will bring solar power to the island in 2012, thanks to a new (more…)

If energy cost trends remain consistent — with the price of retail electricity rising and solar power falling — solar energy could become cheaper than power from the grid in most major U.S. metropolitan areas by 2027, according to a recent projection.

In a new map published on the Energy Self-Reliant (more…)

Did you find a lot of neat little gadgets underneath the Christmas tree this week? While they present exciting new ways to stay connected, the need to keep these devices charged can create special challenges for their owners and a big drain on the energy grid.

Rather than wait until the local energy company (more…)

The Hawaii Solar Energy Association has issued a note welcoming the decision by state regulators to reject a proposal by Hawaiian Electric Co. to require solar companies to install expensive remote monitoring systems for small solar photovoltaic systems.

“The Public Utilities Commission’s ruling helps clear (more…)

Just before Christmas day, Google announced it has made a new $94 million investment in a portfolio of four solar photovoltaic projects currently under construction by Recurrent Energy near Sacramento, CA.

“This investment represents our first investment in the U.S. in larger scale solar PV power plants that (more…)

Researchers are busy trying to develop solar energy, both in terms of efficiency as well as materials and manufacturing processes.

At the University of Notre Dame, researchers have developed what they call a ‘solar paint’ that could be (more…)

Living in Minnesota, the winter months can be trying on many levels. Cold temperatures, slippery roads, ice dams, the list goes on. And to add insult to injury, it seems as if we only get about four hours of sunlight each day.

With the winter solstice upon us – and with it (more…)

Regulators at the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) put their stamp of approval late last week on a new surcharge unfairly penalizing customers that go solar. The state’s utilities charge customers a monthly fee to help pay for solar-panel rebates and to purchase clean energy to meet the state’s 15% by 2025 renewable energy standard. Until now, those (more…)

Gehrlicher Solar, a German solar energy company that entered the U.S. market in late 2010, has already completed two systems and has six more under construction. The company is headquartered in Springfield, NJ.

“The expansion into the U.S. market has been an (more…)

Vote Solar staff attended meetings last week with staff of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), the nation’s largest publicly-owned utility, serving about 10% of California’s electrical load. California law now requires munis like LADWP to get 33% of their power mix from renewables by 2020, (more…)