Solar installation and home energy company Next Step Living is running multiple campaigns tapering down over the holiday season to both do good and reduce the cost of solar in Massachusetts. For instance, it created the Waltham Solar Challenge to help speed adoption of solar power on homes in the city. As part of the challenge, the company will donate $150 each to Downtown Waltham Partnership and Watch CDC for each system installed by Christmas. 

Arizona’s largest utility Arizona Public Service Co. (APS) won a small victory on Nov. 14 when the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) allowed it to impose a fee on solar power users. But it’s a far smaller victory than the utility wanted. 

The residential solar industry is entering new boundary waters with a subtle sploosh. Earlier this month, SolarCity announced that it planned to offer $54.4 million in securities through a private placement. Doesn’t sound too exciting? It is. It could help usher new, lower-cost sources of capital to help reduce the cost of residential solar and is another step towards allowing the U.S. public to invest in solar funds just like they would in a bond or security.

$4.7 million. That’s an estimate of how much money was spent on advertising campaigns by rooftop solar opponents and advocates in Arizona as the state’s largest utility, Arizona Public Service (APS) tries to implement a solar fee on rooftop solar users. This is the latest in a brouhaha that has pitted the rooftop solar industry against the utility in the nation's sunniest state in a debate over net-metering that’s being watched across the country. The regulatory body, Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) takes up the issue today (Nov. 13) and tomorrow, and could make a decision on the issue as soon as tomorrow.

Women make most purchasing decisions in the home—upwards of 80 percent of them, including home improvement decisions. In addition, women are also often the bill payers in the home. Yet it seems that marketers might not be targeting them when attempting to market residential solar energy.   

The majority of silicon solar photovoltaics use silver to conduct electricity but thanks in part to help from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, TetraSun is using copper as a conductor instead of silver. 

How can we use energy more efficiently? That’s the central question behind the Department of Energy’s American Energy Data Challenge launched this week. Using energy more efficiently means (hopefully) needing less energy. When home and business owners can reduce their energy use, they may be encouraged to consider alternatives to grid energy like rooftop solar power, since a reduced energy load means a smaller (and less expensive) solar array can meet the needs of an energy efficient building. 

The costs of rooftop solar continue to come down. Particularly the costs of photovoltaic modules and some of the other hardware associated with them. The other costs of solar, the so called soft-costs—things like permitting, interconnection and maintenance fees, have largely stayed the same. That’s what the Department of Energy’s Rooftop Solar Challenge is tackling and yesterday (Nov. 6) it announced a new round of award winners that will use the awards to reduce the soft costs of solar locally. 

Solar projects in Pennsylvania have been relatively rocky, whether you’re talking home solar, commercial solar or utility-scale solar. The state’s solar industry boomed for a while thanks to a solar renewable energy credit (SREC) that was overheated as utilities hurried to buy SRECs—then they got their fill, leaving the industry to falter. It has recovered somewhat, but there’s a whole area of solar—community solar gardens—that still aren’t even allowed. But that may be changing as a number of organizations are trying to find a way around current restrictions on such projects. 

The California National Indian Gaming Association (CNIGA) has partnered with Wirsol Solar, which joined the group as an associate member recently. The company is working with Native American gaming facilities in California to see how solar power can help reduce the cost of energy for these gaming facilities and rural reservations that aren’t served by the conventional electric grid.