Homeowner’s associations, or HOAs, are – as we who have lived in them know – able to prevent residents from using a certain color of paint, or even hanging a certain kind of window covering in their homes. But defiance, should you put up a fight, can sometimes lead to an ongoing nightmare on the scale of Freddie Kruger, et al.

The Larry Lohrman Case (more…)

We have seen a marriage of the energy efficiency and solar energy industries as the US has worked to green its buildings. In fact, some financing programs require that all cost-effective efficiency (more…)

TD Canada Trust is doing what it can for Canada’s green economy.  The bank recently commissioned a poll of Canadian house owners to determine Canadians’ awareness of and attitudes toward green energy.  The survey, conducted at the end of July and into August, looked in particular at attitudes toward solar panels and found, among other things, that although a third of (more…)

If micro-inverters are the current craze in the solar industry, then I predict that solar energy monitoring systems will be the next big thing.

Micro-inverters (and other parallel technology) are given lots of attention because they can increase the efficiency of a system by up to as much as 10%-20%. Similarly, solar electricity systems that are hooked up to monitoring systems have a 10% energy production increase over systems that are not hooked up to monitoring systems, according to Will Shortt, CEO of Deck (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…)

A Seattle-based company says that it has developed an inexpensive do-it-yourself solar power technology that will enable homeowners to install solar panels on their roofs and then connect them to their power supply by simply plugging a cord into a regular electrical outlet. The company, Clarian Power, is touting its Sunfish system — with prices beginning at $799 — as a (more…)

Despite recent legislative attacks that had one manufacturer threatening to pull up stakes, Arizona’s solar industry seems to be doing quite well. Global solar giant (and near stake-puller) Suntech Power remains committed to building a manufacturing plant in Goodyear, and recently, Governor Jan Brewer, Mayor Lyn Truitt and industry representatives announced the arrival of a (more…)

The Ontario Power Authority has offered a contract to the city of Belleville to install a new grid-tie solar project.  The solar farm will be installed on the roof of the Quinte Sports Centre at an estimated cost of $4 million.  The city accepted the terms of the contract late last month, which allows for the production of nearly half a megawatt of renewable energy. (more…)

Earlier this summer, the Town of Ingersoll’s council voted to move ahead with plans to build a $32.5 million solar energy farm. The town, which lies about two hours outside of Toronto, will partner with inTech Clean Energy, a longtime distributor of solar PV equipment throughout Europe, to build the 18.2-hectare project on land owned by inTech. (more…)

(Reuters) – Italy, Europe’s No. 3 solar market, will not lose its appeal to investors despite a cut in production incentives and is likely to add about 1,000 megawatt of capacity a year in 2010-2013, the industry body head said.

Italy will slash feed-in tariffs (more…)