The Cambridge Solar Tool shows Cambridge residents, businesses, and property owners how much electricity can be produced on their rooftops from solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, how the financial investment will pay off, and how much pollution will be reduced. (more…)

South African researchers say they have developed a low-cost and sustainable housing alternative to the flimsy corrugated iron shacks found in the country’s growing settlements. Developed by an interdisciplinary at Stellenbosch University’s TsamaHUB center, the so-called iShack is insulated with inexpensive, natural materials such as mud and (more…)

Brazil is known for its non-fossil energy matrix largely thanks to its reliance on hydropower, which comes with its fair share of controversy as the case of the mega dam Belo Monte exemplifies. Wind power is starting to grow in the country but solar photovoltaic is still a minuscule, virtually non-existent industry.

Therefore, it comes as good news that the fifth global (more…)

William Nelson of Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) and Brad Browery of SRECTrade know Solar Renewable Energy (SREC) Markets like the back of their hands. Maybe better. They joined us for the latest edition of our Get Some Sun webinar series to offer their insights on the diverse and often complex nature of SREC markets. (more…)

A KickStarter project shows how solar panel factories could become a feature of any neighborhood, producing cheap solar panels for an age when these would become truly mass consumption items.

Devised by inventors Shayne Frayne and Alex Hornstein, the duo has come up with a concept called “solar pocket factory” to produce cheaper (more…)

Kristen Ardani of the National Renewable Energy Labs studies soft costs in US PV markets, and she recently joined us for a webinar to present her findings, in advance of a full report (to come in a few weeks). A pdf of the presentation is here (pdf) or watch the full recording in all its glory. (more…)

All last week there were numerous frantic New Yorkers looking desperately for places to plug-in. Without electricity this ultra connected island was stranded by the storm both physically and electronically. People stood in groups throughout the darkened city listening to battery-powered boom boxes for news. In polling places on Long Island generators still stood (more…)

China has become the world’s largest producer of solar panels, and the European Union has become the largest consumer of solar panels. Due to the economic climate within Europe, it is natural for them to bolster their own solar industry in the interest of keeping and adding employment and growth. However, China which is Europe’s largest supplier has been accusing (more…)

Good news from the economic solar power front. The Solar Foundation (TSF), an independent nonprofit solar education and research organization, earlier this week announced that its third annual National Solar Jobs Census found that the U.S. solar industry employs 119,016 Americans, a figure which represents the addition of 13,872 workers and a (more…)

One of solar’s many benefits is that it can deliver power when and where it’s needed most. At scale, that means solar reduces the need for expensive peak power generation, decreases electricity losses in transmission and distribution systems, and lessens the strain on the grid – good cost-saving measures for all ratepayers, not just those who have gone (more…)