A recent deal has created the largest permitted solar photovoltaic power development in the world, and will create a cool 650 construction jobs in the process. MidAmerican Solar, a subsidiary of MidAmerican Renewables, bought from SunPower the 579 MW Antelope Valley Solar Projects (AVSP), two co-located projects in Kern and Los Angeles Counties in (more…)

The US solar industry is undergoing some serious growing pains, with bankruptcies and mergers a necessary part of that process; meanwhile, competition from Chinese solar panels has many believing that American solar simply cannot compete. Not so.

Solar’s track record is certainly not inspiring: The (more…)

One of the key drivers for community and residential energy storage is distributed solar photovoltaics (PV). This is because distributed PV causes fluctuations on low-voltage networks (the end of the line of the grid, essentially). In order for the residential side of the market to take off, customers need an incentive to prioritize either onsite (more…)

During the past few weeks, many of the largest automotive companies involved in vehicle electrification have made announcements about using solar power to charge vehicles. While skeptics say that these are merely feel-good gimmicks to promote their vehicles, they are actually the start of something (more…)

Some places actually have “better” sun than others for producing solar power, but identifying those places isn’t always intuitive.

Contrary to what I would have guessed, Hawaii does not have the best sun for solar energy production. Factors like cloud cover, water vapor and atmospheric (more…)

San Jose-based SunPower on Monday (27) announced that it has completed the sale of its 44-megawatt Montalto di Castro solar park to a consortium of international investors that include MetLife, Fondo PPP Italia and Voigt & Collegen. SunPower designed and built the solar power plant and will provide ongoing operations and maintenance services for the new owners. (more…)

(Reuters) – Texas has long been home to Big Oil companies that specialize in extracting petroleum from hard-to-reach places. Now the hip college town of Austin is vying to become the epicenter of a potentially giant market for carbon-free electricity generated by the hot Texas sun.

The rest of Texas may follow, if the state (more…)

Despite a slower market, California solar developers are still cashing in on state and federal incentives. In fact, the West Coast is slated to get another 250 megawatts of clean, renewable energy in San Luis Obispo County.

Under NRG Solar and SunPower Corporation, the California Valley Solar Ranch is slated for an area known as the (more…)

It seems like everyone is pushing for a lead in the solar energy game. Who’s catapulting themselves into first place now? The world’s largest aerospace company, The Boeing Co.

Boeing hopes to introduce their high-efficiency C3MJ+ solar cells around the globe as early as January, 2011. Created (more…)

San Jose-based SunPower has become one of the first solar power companies to submit a response to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), an independent not-for-profit organization that compiles and keeps the world’s largest database of primary corporate climate change information.

The company said that in 2009 its global (more…)