When President Obama was sworn into office it was clear that the U.S. economy was in trouble. One of his first acts was to create and pass the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, a sweeping piece of legislation signed into law that helped right the U.S. economy. In doing so, he committed more than $90 billion to renewable and clean energy—the biggest clean energy investment in U.S. history! 

The U.S. is expected to install 26 gigawatts of new electric generation in the U.S.—the majority of it, 16.3 gigawatts, will come from renewable energy and the majority of that, 9.5 gigawatts, will come from solar power. As exciting, none of the anticipated new generation will come from coal. That’s according to new research from the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA), reported in its Today in Energy series. 

One of the quests in solar power is to make solar cells that can be placed ubiquitously, in windows, in paint, in shirts, on smartphones—the list goes on. Now MIT might have produced the thinnest, most flexible solar cell ever. A device thin, flexible and light enough to float on a soap bubble.

Xcel Energy and community solar power developers reached an agreement that will allow them to add up to 60 megawatts of community solar in the state throughout 2016. The agreement means more of Colorado’s residents and businesses will have access to solar power even if they can’t install it on their own roofs. 

It’s not all good and it’s not all bad. But states are taking action on solar power policies, particularly on net-metering and fixed charges. That’s according to a new report out from the The NC Clean Energy Technology Center and by the Meister Consultants Group. The University of North Carolina entity that maintains the Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy (DSIRE). 

Last year SolarReserve quietly brought its Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project online for testing. Now the 110 megawatt facility is expected to reach its full annual production this year. While concentrated solar power (CSP) hasn’t been as popular in the U.S. as photovoltaic solar panels, but it has some advantages—namely that with thermal storage it can provide solar power around the clock without the need for batteries. 

The U.S.’s leading vertically integrated solar companies posted two separate solar energy efficiency records in the past two days. First Solar, which makes cadmium-telluride (CdTe) thin-film solar panels has produced solar cells that can convert 22.1 percent of the sun’s energy into electricity. Meanwhile SunPower introduced it’s latest X22 solar panels, which convert 22.8 percent of the sun’s power into electricity. Both results were verified by the Nationals Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

The U.S. installed 7.3 gigawatts of solar power in 2015, a record. In all the U.S. now has 25 gigawatts of solar power online. It also marked the first time that more solar power was installed in the country than natural gas electric generation. Solar power made up 29.5 percent of all the new energy generation in the U.S. last year as well and 17 percent year-over-year growth. 

This week Apple Inc. issued $1.5 billion in green bonds as part of a larger bond issuance. The green bonds will support Apple’s use of renewable energy like solar power (which it is using at data centers and other locations) as well as support its energy efficiency efforts and efforts to reduce volatile materials in its electronics. It’s said to be the largest green bond issuance to date. 

Earlier this week Intel Corp. unveiled a 6.5 megawatt carport at its Folsom, Calif. campus. The carport covers 3,000 spaces—which, could be more than enough parking spaces for the 6,000 employees at the campus (if they’re car sharing or taking other forms of transportation to work). As such it’s the largest solar panel carport in the U.S., to date, according to Intel.