Yesterday our friends at SEIA and GTM Research released their latest report on American solar market trends. U.S. Solar Market Insight: Q1 2012 found that solar growth continued its breakneck pace, with installations for the quarter 85% higher than last year this time – making it highest first quarter in history. Cumulatively, the U.S. has installed nearly 5,000 (more…)

Likely a result of mass protesting, the German government recently announced that their scheduled cuts in solar subsidies would be delayed and perhaps revised. Cuts for residential solar photovoltaic (PV) systems have been delayed until May. At that time, incentives will undergo gradual reductions each month. Cuts for solar utilities have been delayed until June. (more…)

Ground-mounted systems are probably the simplest way to install solar on a larger scale compared to other types of installations such as roofs or parking structures. These systems can be held down by a variety of foundations, including concrete footings, pile driven posts, piers, metal earth screws (more…)

Many people would applaud Glade Bilby for improving his New Orleans home with rooftop solar panels—except, apparently, the city officials who recently slammed the breaks on that progress.

Instead, the Vieux Carre Commission is more concerned with another issue: keeping the historical integrity of his 1834 (more…)

City Council in Owen Sound, Ontario, will soon decide whether the municipality will join the province’s green economy with a pair of ground-mounted solar installations on city-owned property.

Within the next few months, Owen Sound’s Environmental Superintendent, Chris Hughes, will present a plan to Council for (more…)

The hotel industry offers a variety of opportunities for workers who have attained solar certification.  One exciting example is the Planet Traveler Hotel on College Street.  The building, which once stood abandoned and in poor condition, was recently refurbished and is now being touted as Toronto’s greenest hotel.  Hotel owner, Anthony Aarts, and his business (more…)

In the latest news on the solar rebate front, Florida – which in 2006 offered $4 per watt for solar energy installations as an incentive to increase the state’s renewable energy portfolio – appears to be about to renege on at least part of its promise. (more…)

When it was finished in December of 2007, the solar PV system at Nellis Air Force Base, rated at 14.2 megawatts (MW) and generating more than 30 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, was one of the wonders of the modern world. (more…)

Direct Energy and Pure Energies, Inc. announced last month, a new partnership that takes advantage of the Ontario Green Energy Act’s lucrative feed-in tariff (FIT) program. Together, the two companies will offer packages tailored to the needs of individual home-owners, marrying solar PV technology with high-efficiency heating and cooling services and maintenance. Direct Energy and Pure Energies hope (more…)

The biggest deterrent for retail consumers to install solar panels on their rooftops is the upfront cost, which may vary depending on the country and state incentives. The cost of repair is on the owner of the panels (most panels are insured for 20 years or more and since they have no moving parts are pretty stable). The inverter that coverts the current to a usable form needs to be (more…)