PetersenDean Roofing & Solar has partnered with SolarEdge and LG Chem to provide solar and energy storage systems for homeowners. The company said the combination will offer consumers an affordable solar and energy storage system.

Renewable energy isn’t going anywhere except up in the US. Driven by growth in wind and solar, in 2017 alone renewable energy including hydropower grew from 15 percent of the US’s energy supply to 18 percent, with solar continuing to be the biggest employer in the energy production industry. That’s according to the latest 2018 Sustainable Energy in America Factbook from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) and the Business Council for Sustainable Energy (BCSE). 

A new bill in California would make it easier for businesses, schools, non-profits and more to go solar by installing panels on existing developed spaces like parking lots, brownfields, office buildings and other potential underutilized spaces. The new state bill, SB 1399, would allow businesses and other entities with limited space to invest in and utilize solar power on property owners’ lands, even if the property owner can’t use the power. 

Last week New Jersey topped the annual Solar Power Rocks rankings thanks to the incentives offered to residential solar customers. Meanwhile to allow more solar power to come online the electric grid will have to continue to transform, a new white paper from Vote Solar explained how policymakers can make the transition. 

A new white paper out this week from clean energy advocacy organization Vote Solar, delves into the complexities of implementing electric grid transformation and modernization. As more solar and clean energy come online utilities and states need to implement electric grid modernizations and the new white paper shows how lawmakers and utility regulators can take actions to modernize the electric grid.

A couple of years ago gargantuan solar projects were all the rage, pushing first to 20 megawatts, then 50 MWs and now far beyond. Now it seems that energy storage projects are following suit as batteries get more efficient and less expensive. 

New Jersey regained the top spot from Massachusetts in Solar Power Rocks’ annual State Solar Power Rankings Report. The report ranks states based on their renewable energy policies and solar incentives and awarded New Jersey with the top spot for its short payback period for solar—six years for a 5 kilowatt solar system and high rate of return on investing in solar among other factors.

Enphase Energy will supply microinverters for Panasonic’s latest solar photovoltaic (PV) modules, its 96-cell N Series Photovoltaic (PV) Modules HIT, which will be available in May 2018. Since Tesla uses Panasonic solar panels and cells, it also suggests that Tesla could use the AC-solar panel technology in new rooftop and commercial solar installations. 

While solar power remains one of the largest employers in the US electric industry, for the first time since 2010 the industry saw an overall loss of jobs compared to 2016. That news from the annual National Solar Jobs Census came at the same time a number of states reported they’ve reached record levels of solar installations and some are asking for more. 

This week Massachusetts announced that it's reached more than 2,000 megawatts (MWs) of solar power, poising it to be the solar leader in the northeast. However, the upcoming incentives, the Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART) has left some in the solar industry worried about the future of solar in the state.