Legislators teamed up with conservation organization Environment North Carolina to support solar power policies in the state as legislators come back from the summer recess in the state. The group touted North Carolina’s position nationally as the fourth largest state for solar power in the U.S., showing it’s ability to create jobs and clean energy for The Tar Heel State. 

There now more than 22.7 gigawatts of solar photovoltaics installed across the U.S. That’s according to the latest U.S. Solar Market Insight Report by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) GTM Research. It’s the latest sign that solar power is seeing significant growth in the U.S.

Last week, Aspen revealed that it is now 100 powered by renewable energy. In making the announcement the city became the third in the U.S. to do so. The news comes as the town inked an agreement with Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska (MEAN) to provide between 20 and 25 percent of the city’s energy needs with wind power. 

In its most recent annual report on solar growth in states Environment America found a number of important new developments. Among them: in California, Hawaii, and Arizona solar now generates more than 5 percent of total electricity consumption; The top 10 states with the most solar power per person represent only 26 percent of the population but 86 percent of installed solar in the U.S.; and California, New Jersey and Arizona each have more than 1 gigawatt of solar installed. 

The Alliance for Solar Choice (TASC) has launched a new site, WeAreTeamSolar.com, to support an extension of the Investment Tax Credit for solar installations as part of upcoming tax extenders’ legislation. The ITC has been an instrumental tool in expanding solar power in the U.S. over the past decade and the solar industry credits it for much of the growth in the industry. 

Last Week, in a Private Letter Ruling, the IRS ruled that community-solar projects can take advantage of the Investment Tax Credit (ITC). The ITC allows solar owners to receive a 30 percent tax credit for the solar panels and related equipment that they’ve purchased. It’s one of the biggest incentives that’s helped solar power grow in the U.S.

When President Obama announced his Clean Power Plan this summer, and the EPA issued its rule to limit carbon emissions, it meant that many states will have to start getting energy from cleaner sources like natural gas but moreover from renewable energy like solar and wind. States can either make their own plans or wait until new federal regulations come into play when they’ll have to comply. Today (Sept.1) Michigan, home of motor city, announced that it will develop its own State Carbon Implementation Plan (SCIP). 

Last week (Aug. 27) the Alliance for Solar Choice (TASC) launched a statewide campaign in California,  calling on California utilities to explain why they’ve taken anti-solar—particularly anti-rooftop solar—stances. The new campaign comes as the state’s utilities are filing for changes to how they reimburse customers with rooftop solar power for the electricity they generate and put back on the grid. 

The Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration latest monthly report shows that in June 2015 utility-scale solar generation produced 2,765 gigawatt hours of electric generation. A record for the fastest-growing source of new energy in the U.S.

Yesterday (Aug. 26), after an 18-month series of discussions, Colorado’s Public Utilities Commission (PUC) decided to keep the state’s net-metering policy as it is. As solar power has become an increasingly less expensive and more popular option across the U.S. and in sun-rich states like Colorado, utilities have come to see it and net-metering policies, as a threat to their business model. As such they and fossil-fuel companies are increasingly fighting net-metering policies, to mixed results, in states like Colorado, California and Arizona.