by Chris Meehan As SunPower prepares to install its 10,000th residential system, the company says that it anticipates that solar will be on 20 percent of all new homes built in California this year. That’s based on recent trends, like the doubling of solar on new homes between 2011 and 2012, renewedefforts through the California Solar [...]

The Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association (COSEIA) leads up the Solar Friendly Communities initiative aimed to encourage the expansion of residential solar. As we have written previously, although solar technology costs have come down significantly in the past few years, local policies still have a major impact on the overall cost of installing solar. The [...]

As we mentioned in our previous post, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) offer Property Loan Insurance to approved lenders in a program known as Title I. This program protects lenders from risk of default on fixed-rate loans of up to $25,000 for home improvements. Solar qualifies [...]

With some estimates as high as 75% of new solar installs financed through 3rd party ownership, it has become clear that the solar lease is quickly becoming the most popular way to pay for a solar installation. The obvious advantage of the solar lease is the fact that you don’t have to put any money [...]

Since Hurricane Sandy hit the eastern seaboard, there has been an elevated level of discourse regarding climate change, a topic that had been mostly ignored during the Presidential election. After the hurricane, NYC Mayor Bloomberg noted climate change as a key factor in his decision to endorse President Obama. More recently, the newly elected head [...]

Now that President Obama has been elected to a second term in office, what does that do to your prospects for going solar at your residence? Unfortunately, like with most things, the U.S. President does not have as much of a direct influence on our ability to power our homes with solar as we would [...]

Jobs in the solar industry have grown at a rate of 13.3% in 2012! These rates are significantly higher than most industries. Key job functions include installation, sales, marketing and software development. A full press release can be downloaded here. According to the Solar Foundation here are the three key drivers of job growth: Lower [...]

A study recently released by the Mid-Atlantic Solar Energy Industries Association (MSEIA) and the Pennsylvania Solar Energy Industries Association (PASEIA) conducted by Clean Power Research concludes that solar power delivers far greater value than it costs. Key points in the full text of the report include: Power is priced every hour in an auction The [...]

The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory recently released a briefing comparing the “soft” costs (or business process costs) of residential photovoltaic solar installations in the U.S. and Germany. The comparison was focused on outright purchases in Germany in 2011 and based on a survey done by NREL in the U.S. in 2010. Key findings based on [...]

Solar cells stand to place an increasingly prominent role in augmenting the practicality of electric cars.  In theory, the idea of using solar panels to charge electric cars seems a perfect combination. The sun is the planet’s greatest source of free energy and anyone with the capacity to harness it is at an advantage. The [...]