At the Clinton Global Initiative in Denver this week more than 20 companies announced they will  support the adoption of the truSolar Initiative’s standards. The standards offer the solar industry a uniform risk assessment methodology that’s governed by an accreditation body. 

Today the largest part of the solar industry in the U.S. is on the residential solar side. Within the residential solar market the largest part of the market is comprised of third-party ownership (TPO) agreements. In fact, by year’s end 68 percent of all homes with solar will have it through a TPO agreement, according to GTM Research’s new report U.S. Residential Solar Financing, 2014-2018. 

Under a new partnership the 52 megawatt Capital Partners Solar Project in North Carolina will power George Washington University (GW), American University (AU) and the George Washington University Hospital (GWUH). The project, being built by CustomerFirst Renewables and is owned by Duke Energy Renewables, will begin delivering energy to the facilities this year and will be completed next year. The project is being called the largest PV project East of the Mississippi. 

One of the biggest issues in installing residential solar in the U.S. is the permitting process. Each city, town and jurisdiction has its own permitting process and rules, making it more difficult for solar contractors to install solar. Now the country’s biggest supporter of solar, California my be set to do something about it. 

A new report out from GTM Research The 2014 U.S. China Solar Trade Dispute: Status, Strategies and Market Impacts looks into the overall effect of the U.S. Commerce Department’s (DOC) June 2 ruling imposing new tariffs on imports of Chinese PV modules. The new report finds that, on average the cost of Chinese PV are likely to increase by 14 percent because of the tariffs. 

The solar industry shook with a thunderclap earlier this week when Elon Musk announced that SolarCity purchased solar PV manufacturer Silevo for $350 million. The purchase sent a shockwave through the solar industry as well as through some investors and analysts. 

At a time when some other states, like Ohio, are abandoning or reducing their renewable energy goals at least one state, Massachusetts, is forging ahead. Today (June 18) the state introduced legislation that would essentially remove the state’s net-metering cap while making sure that both consumers and utilities are happy with the legislation. 

SunPower and Admirals Bank partnered today (June 16) on a new, $200 million loan program to support thousands of residential solar photovoltaic systems. The new partnership will allow homeowners—across the U.S.—to go solar with a SunPower PV array with a loan of up to $60,000. 

Today (June 13) Forbes published a piece that falls largely among talking points supported by utilities and fossil fuel energy companies that attacks net-metering as a policy that puts a burden on poorer people. It’s basically hogwash. 

Mosaic, which made a splash in the solar industry in the past few years through its unique crowdsourcing platform for investing in commercial-scale solar projects, is stepping into the residential market with a similar approach. The company introduced its new line of solar home loan products with no up-front costs.