It’s not exactly news that solar panel prices have dropped dramatically in the last decade. Because of this trend, the “soft costs” of solar power – aspects such as labor, installation, permitting and taxes – now make up a larger percentage of the total cost of going solar, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Two new NREL reports state that 64 percent of the total price of a residential solar energy system is made…

There’s lots of positive news going on in the solar power industry these days, with the number of solar panel installations increasing 76 percent from 2011 to 2012 and the state of California, in particular, continuing to pursue new solar opportunities. SmartPlanet recently suggested that this momentum has bumped it up from an immaterial job creator to a real economic driver. According to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) Energy Infrastructure Update, solar has been…

Not too long ago, major corporations would install solar panels on the rooftops of their facilities in order to earn the good graces of environmentalists and renewable energy advocates. It wasn’t so much that the companies wanted to save money as they wanted to send a message that they cared about the environment, earning public relations credit but little else. Now that solar power is an affordable and valuable asset for both homeowners and businesses,…

Recently, Senator Mark Udall of Colorado introduced a bill that would make it easier for the owners of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels connected to community solar gardens to received federal renewable energy tax credits. While shared solar gardens are a great option for anyone who is unable to install a rooftop system, such as renters or condo owners subject to homeownerse association (HOA) rules, something for California residents to remember is that it is actually illegal for an HOA to prohibit…

The MS Toranus PlanetSolar, a catamaran powered by solar energy cells, is making a stop in Boston this week as it navigates its way along the Atlantic Coast. The boat is being used to carry out research to determine the effect of climate change on the Earth’s oceans. It was designed by a team of engineers and scientists from New Zealand, who wanted to promote the use of renewable energy and alternative fuel sources for creating…

Headlines about new generation records for solar energy solutions in California are so common these days that they’re hardly surprising. More installations are coming online every day, which means that more opportunities present themselves to push the state in the direction of renewable energy. On January 2 the California Independent System Operator (CalISO), which regulates the state’s utility-scale grid, announced that solar generation had hit a peak of 3,000 megawatts (MW) at noon, which would…

For the first time ever, the world will add more solar energy than wind power capacity, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF). A slow down in the wind industry, coupled with enormous growth in photovoltaic (PV) installations, has led to greater increases in solar generating capacity. One of the reasons for the small decline in the wind industry has to due with the delayed passage of a production tax credit, which subsequently led to a decline…

Recently we reported on the GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association year-in-review report which revealed that California implemented more than 1,000 megawatts of solar panels as of 2012, leading the country in solar energy solutions. On March 10, however, the Golden State broke that record. KCET, an independent television station in Southern California, announced that the state had 1,500 megawatts of solar power entering the grid as of 10 a.m. It then went on…

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will be hosting its sixth Solar Decathlon competition from October 3-13 in Irvine, California. Held at the massive Orange County Great Park, the competition pits teams of college students against each other to design and construct solar powered homes that are energy efficient, affordable and attractive. Juries of experts will judge the houses based on ten criteria, including how much hot water is provided and how comfortable the interiors are,…

On Monday, the California State Senate passed Assembly Bill 327. The bill makes a number of changes to California’s electrical rate structure, and also lifts a suspension of net energy metering (NEM) that would have occurred at the end of the year without legislative intervention. If signed by Governor Jerry Brown, as is expected, the proposed law will be a major victory for solar customers and the industry as a whole. NEM allows solar customers…

A house that was entered into the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon competition in October will be donated to the campus of California State University at San Marcos, near Camp Pendleton. The structure, which was designed by students of Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey, will be used as a veterans’ affairs office, aimed at providing services such as GI benefits distribution and class registration for student and faculty members who are veterans. The…

Harry Atwater is a physicist at the California Institute of Technology (CIT) with a specialty in applied physics and alternative energy sources, specifically solar power. Currently, he and his team of CIT researchers and engineers are working to develop a solar cell that can convert a whopping 50 percent of solar light into useable energy, according to Discovery News. For a little perspective, the sun emits over 1,000 watts of energy per square yard to…