Complete Solar Solution announced earlier this week (March 10) that the venture capital fund Ecosystem Integrity Fund (EIF) led a $5 million investment in the company and its HelioQuote software. Other investors in the offering included Floodgate Capital and some individuals. The funding will help Complete Solar Solution reach $100 million in annual revenue within the next two years while the solar installer and software developer expands in California and the Northeast. 

Yup. At least that’s what’s rumored to be in the works under a pending deal between Austin Energy and SunEdison. However no one will really know until the final paperwork is signed, which is expected as soon as next week. 

Are solar panels becoming consumer electronics? While the majority of devices at the local Best Buy suck more and more of the energy in your home—albeit more efficiently if you opt for Energy Star products, the store is starting to offer solar arrays so homeowners can power their new toys and tools with the sun.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon is quickly becoming an event that rivals the Olympics in international appeal. Yesterday (March 11) the DOE announced that in late 2015 Latin America and the Caribbean will host its first Solar Decathlon event in Columbia’s Santiago de Cali. 

Yesterday (March 10) 8minutenergy Renewables and Gestamp signed a 20 year power-purchase agreement (PPA) for the 50 megawatt Midway Solar Farm project in Imperial County, Calif. The project will be located on 486 acres of low-productivity farmland. 8minutenergy’s unique large-scale solar project platform is based on doing projects located on previously used land.

Last week New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s (D) office announced $28.6 million in NY-Sun Initiative investments as well as $1.4 million in energy storage investments as New York continues to prepare for its energy future. Already the initiative has helped support the edition of 299 megawatts of solar photovoltaics and has helped drop the cost of solar projects from $1.30 per watt in 2011 to 77 cents per watt today. Part of the focus of the new round of funds is to support more small-scale solar in New York.

Illinois’ cornfields aren’t the only thing that’s green in the state, nearly 100 communities in the the state are 100 percent powered by renewable electricity. That’s according to a new report, Leading from the Middle: How Illinois Communities Unleashed Renewable Energy. As such it’s likely the greenest energy state in the nation on a per capita basis.

That’s according to new information out from consulting firm GlobalData. The company issued a number of reports this week that projecting future solar photovoltaics (PV) growth across the world through 2030. Among the key findings are that that solar power in the Americas will boom between now and 2030. Across the pond, solar growth in Europe will slow over the next year or so but will begin booming afterwards. 

A rumor’s been swirling around the Internet this week that Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook are interested in acquiring solar-powered drone maker Titan Aerospace. The social media giant is rumored to be interested in the drone company to make the Internet truly mobile. Such a purchase could be part of the Internet.org initiative, which seeks to bring the Internet to parts of the world where there is little to no Internet access at this point.

Last year was a record breaker for the U.S. solar industry. Overall the U.S. installed 4.75 gigawatts of photovoltaics (PV) and brought 410 megawatts of concentrating solar power (CSP) online. That’s according to the Solar Market Insight Report 2013 Year in Review report released today (March 5) by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and GTM Research.