How do we know when solar becomes a mainstream energy source?

One tipoff: when mainstream energy companies get serious about solar.

For example, take NRG, a Fortune 250 wholesale energy generator with about 26 GW of capacity in its (more…)

Yesterday morning’s keynote address at the Renewable Energy Finance Forum was delivered by Pennsylvania’s ex-governor Ed Rendell, who spoke on the possibilities that renewable energy may gain traction through politics. I suppose anything’s possible, so I tried to track with every word – and I’m glad I did. (more…)

One of the most powerful drivers for the growing commercial solar market is the rising cost of electricity.  If you are a small business owner in the Northeast with a painfully high electricity bill that rises year after year, solar power could be a smart way to lower your costs today and lock in low rates for the future. (more…)

In April, California made another big leap ahead in the clean energy race. At a solar panel factory in Milpitas, with Dept of Energy Secretary Steven Chu joining him on stage, Governor Jerry Brown signed legislation making the 33%-by-2020 Renewable Portfolio Standard(RPS) the law of the land. (Watch a video of the bill signing here.) (more…)

Due to its increasing population, the State of Nevada spends approximately $6 billion every year on imported energy. Therefore, numerous lawmakers in the state have turned to an alternative, smarter solution for powering the energy – through the use of renewable energy that is locally produced. Nevada is blessed with over 250 days of pure sunshine (more…)

There’s solar trouble in Ohio. For the second year of a two-year-old Renewable Portfolio Standard, Ohio utilities are requesting waivers from their solar electricity requirement. First Energy Corp – which is parent company to Toledo Edison, Ohio Edison and Cleveland Electric Illuminating – reports that they were unable to find enough solar renewable energy (more…)

Ohio, in 2008, created their own renewable portfolio standard that necessitated 25 percent of the overall energy in Ohio is created out of advanced energy sources by the year 2025. According to the portfolio, more than half of the energy created, must come from in-state sources. The impact of this standard and the venture into clean (more…)

The future of energy is all about abundant, cheap, and clean power. Over the last few months of 2010 the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the California Energy Commission (CEC) approved 10 large-scale Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) projects totaling about 4,190 MW. (more…)

At the North American International Auto Show yesterday, Ford sponsored a discussion with Stewart Brand, author of the Whole Earth Catalog. In his discussion, he highlighted the dramatic shift in population from rural areas to urban areas in developed nations thus increasing overall energy usage. (more…)

Just across the bay from Vote Solar HQ, the team of researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab has been busy as ever cranking out detailed reports of valuable information on clean energy markets, policies, costs and benefits. We found two recent reports particularly illuminating:

State RPS Policies are Key to U.S. Solar Market Growth (more…)