Posts by West Coast Solar

Most solar panels are installed on south-facing roofs (if the house has one), as this puts them in a position to receive the most direct sunlight over the course of a year. Because we live in the northern hemisphere, the sun tends to move across the southern portion of the sky, particularly in the winter…

In November 2012, California voters overwhelmingly supported the passage of Proposition 39, which closed a corporate tax loophole and raised $1 billion in revenue annually, half of which would be allocated for clean energy projects and efficiency improvements at educational facilities. Now that Prop 39 has become law, many are wondering about the next steps…

We recently wrote about a report from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, located at U.C. Berkeley, that showed how solar installation costs have fallen significantly in the last decade. But the main reason for that has been the hardware itself. Solar panel prices have fallen precipitously in recent years due to the advent of the Chinese solar market, which…

Local news source MyDesert.com reports that the BrightSource Energy’s 500 megawatt (MW) Palen project, which would have been constructed in Coachella Valley, was disapproved by the California Energy Commission (CEC). The ruling reinforces the notion that the state’s utility scale solar industry is struggling to build out new capacity, as opposition from local and environmental groups to these…

Although the benefits of renewable energy, and Bay Area solar power in particular, are clear, there are still quite a few opponents to this technology who think the best way forward for the United States is to remain dependent on fossil fuels. While this conception is being turned on its head, the solar energy industry…

The first 57 megawatts (MW) of a 579 MW solar generating plant is coming online soon, according to Reuters. Once operating, the California Solar Star plant will be the largest in the country, providing enough electricity to power over 250,000 homes. The power station is made up of two sites spread between Kern and Los Angeles counties.…

An enormous new renewable energy project near Blythe, California, has been approved by California regulators after the developers switched from concentrated solar power (CSP) to photovoltaic (PV) solar modules. It’s unclear what the next steps are for NextEra Energy, the company that will build the 485-megawatt (MW) project. Reuters reports that the project was originally slated…

Researchers at Purdue University have created a new structure based on the opal gemstone that, if integrated into a thin-film photovoltaic (PV) solar module, could lead to more efficient panels that are 100 times cheaper than conventional solar power technology. Thin-film solar cells use considerably less silicon than conventional panels, but they’re much less efficient at…

The city of Los Angeles is hoping to derive 20 percent of its electricity from rooftop solar energy by 2020. L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti announced that his administration and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) would push for the installation of 1,200 megawatts (MW) of solar generating capacity, enough to cover about…

The New Solar Homes Partnership (NSHP) is a program that was brought into effect by the California Solar Initiative (CSI), the legislative bill that has had a significant impact on the growth of solar in the Golden State. In essence, NSHP provides funding and incentives for home builders to construct new houses with renewable energy installations…

The University of California at Riverside (UCR) will soon have a 3 megawatt (MW) solar panel array on site that will provide approximately 30 percent of the university’s electricity needs. The school’s website reports that the solar panels will help the school save $4.3 million over the term of its power purchase agreement (PPA), which will last…