In one of the best indications that solar energy is ready for prime time, the New Jersey State Legislature approved A1084 and referred it to committee.

A1084, which would mandate solar panels in the design and construction of all new public school facilities, is currently before the Assembly Appropriations Committee, (more…)

The residents of The Preserve in Yorba Linda in California will move into their 90-home community knowing that part of the energy they will be using is renewable. That’s because the model homes will come with pre-installed solar panels with no additional cost to homebuyers, the developers say. (more…)

At this year’s West Coast Green conference in San Francisco, Bill McDonough gave a rousing call–to-action keynote speech in which he proclaimed that we do not have an energy problem, but what we do have is a materials problem. He went on to say that the carbon in the environment is in the wrong place. Instead of leaving it in the ground, we have mined (more…)

Yesterday, we took a big step on our nation’s path to clean energy future with the approval of the first large-scale solar energy plants ever to be built on public lands.

The Tessera Solar Imperial Valley Solar Project and the Chevron Energy Solutions Lucerne Valley Solar Project will both be (more…)

A quarter-century after President Ronald Reagan dismantled the solar panels placed on the White House roof by his predecessor, Jimmy Carter, the Obama administration has announced that it will install solar energy panels and a solar water heater atop the White House. U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu made the announcement, saying in a statement, “As (more…)

Feed-in tariffs for industrial installations in France decreased by 12 percent beginning on September 1st. This move was done to prevent overheating in the sector.

According to the French Minister for Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and Town, Mr. Jean-Louis Borloo, the objective of having 5,400 MW of solar PV capacity may be reached in 2013 instead of 2020. (more…)

Several months ago, I mentioned the Shimizu Corporation’s plan to place solar panels on the moon to generate renewable energy that would be transferred back to Earth and distributed along power lines. Shimizu Corporation’s hope was that they could begin working on their project sometime in 2020 when Japan planned to have a solar powered base upon the moon. (more…)

Ontario solar power company, Enfinity Canada, Ltd., has expanded its business to include outreach and education initiatives. Earlier this month, Enfinity made available for download the Executive Brief portion of its document entitled “Key Considerations for Developing Rooftop Solar Photovoltaic Installations.” Enfinity hopes that this report will act as a blueprint, enabling building (more…)

In a move that combines California environmentalism with aid to communities in need, the state has taken $3.2 billion from the California Solar Initiative (CSI) to fund solar panels on low-income housing.

Through a program called MASH, for Multifamily Affordable Solar Housing, the city of San Diego aims to make solar (more…)

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…)