A new crowdfunding project on Indiegogo wants to bring solar power to the site of a former trash dump on the Galápagos Islands, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located 550 miles west of the Ecuadorean mainland. The islands were visited by Charles Darwin during his South American expedition and the species he observed there helped him formulate his theory of (more…)

Solar energy has been around for a long, long time – since approximately 3,500,000,000 BC, in fact, when cyanobacteria harnessed solar energy for life. Little did those simple organisms know that they were onto something that one day would become a viable power source that could increase the quality of human life by sustaining our environment and decreasing our (more…)

For years, we’ve been making the case that in addition to the environmental benefits, solar also adds value to the grid.

How much value? Today, we released a report that we commissioned to look at both the costs and benefits of net metering in California. The study was done by Tom Beach of Crossborder Energy, who used actual data from 10,000 solar systems (more…)

A lot of people have been waiting to get behind the wheel of an electric vehicle since the 1980s. But what was once promised to consumers as an extremely economical way to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and help conserve the environment turned into another green movement pipe dream. While the talk about electric vehicles was full of hope, (more…)

We’re thrilled to see that the LA Department of Water and Power (LADWP) adopted a Feed-In Tariff (FIT) program last week.

We’d like to congratulate all the folks who, after three years of hard work testifying and developing the research and policy, made this victory possible (looking at you, LABC, Environment California, Sierra Club, Global Green, and many many more). (more…)

Some big solar news from New York! This week, in his 2013 State of the State, Governor Andrew Cuomo made some significant solar proposals. Proposals that will work to fundamentally transform the state’s solar market while broadening access to solar, enabling the industry to scale and reducing the cost. (more…)

A recent deal has created the largest permitted solar photovoltaic power development in the world, and will create a cool 650 construction jobs in the process. MidAmerican Solar, a subsidiary of MidAmerican Renewables, bought from SunPower the 579 MW Antelope Valley Solar Projects (AVSP), two co-located projects in Kern and Los Angeles Counties in (more…)

Here’s an idea for 2013. Wouldn’t it be nice to have powerful solar chargers all over the place? One Portuguese company is doing something along those lines. With its StarEnergy’s INTI Solar Charge Point, it is possible to charge a cell phone, a tablet or a laptop with solar power from mobile charging stations can be installed in any public space, such as parks, airports, bus (more…)

One of the unmistakable aspects of the traditional v. green energy argument, no matter which jurisdiction you are talking about, is how time and advancement necessarily does funny things to the entire dialogue.

Basically, it is not that much of a stretch to compare what is going on with alternative energy technology (more…)

Stanford University researchers say they have developed a “peel-and-stick” solar cell that can be attached to a variety of hard surfaces, an innovation they say could vastly expand the potential for solar energy technology.

Normally, thin-film solar cells are attached to rigid, (more…)