Yesterday (Sept. 19) the New York State Public Service Commission introduced the state’s new Value of Distributed Energy Resources (VDER) plan, which will replace net-metering for rooftop solar in the state. However, the new scheme was soundly criticized by industry advocates and the environmental community.

Last week was another great week for solar power as the Department of Energy announced that the cost of utility-scale solar power has met the SunShot Initiative’s goals three years early. So it’s no surprise to find that the US had its best second quarter ever this year or that corporations are turning to renewable energy faster than ever, with one program reaching its goals three years early as well. 

To ensure that today’s graduate students are prepared to lead renewable energy companies into the future, Net Impact, OneEnergy Renewables and 3Degrees partnered to create the Energy Scholars program, a mentoring program. But hurry, the deadline for applying to the program is Sept. 24. 

Mosaic inked a deal this week to sell $300 million of its rooftop solar loans to Goldman Sachs Bank, which will allow the financier to invest in more rooftop solar while providing long-term returns on investment for the bank. The deal will expand Mosaic's capacity for future loan funding commitments from banks and credit unions to $800 million in addition to $650 million that it already has in committed borrowing capacity from its existing partners. 

By 2020 both wind and solar power will outshine biomass electric generation as a replacement for coal-fired power plants in the United Kingdom. A new study from Vivid Economics commissioned by the Natural Resources Defense Council shows that of the low-cost, low-carbon energy generation options biomass produces the most carbon and is least cost-competitive.

To further distinguish themselves among the competition home solar installers are taking their cues from telecom and cable companies, offering bundled services with their rooftop solar offerings. The latest to make such an option is Vivint Solar, which is now offering a package it calls Fully Integrated. It partnered with ChargePoint this week to offer its electric vehicle (EV) chargers alongside Vivint Solar’s other offerings, which include rooftop solar and an energy storage system from Mercedes Benz. 

In just this past quarter Texas added 380 megawatts of solar power—that’s 24 percent of all the state’s solar power. The rapid expansion allowed the state to become the nation’s seventh largest state for completed solar installations, according to GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association’s (SEIA) latest US Solar Market Insight report.

When President Obama’s administration (D) unveiled the SunShot Initiative in 2010, it likened the goal of reducing the installed price of solar energy by 75 percent by 2020, to President Kennedy’s MoonShot Initiative. Now it appears at least one sector, utility-scale solar, is essentially at the cost level, $1.11 a watt, that the SunShot Initiative set out for it, making it cost-competitive with other energy sources. Moreover, the goal was achieved three years ahead of the initiative’s original goals.

There were two main themes in the solar industry last week, companies are going for solar, renewable energy in a big way and there were numerous advances in solar technologies.

The US solar industry had another record-breaking quarter, installing 2,387 megawatts (MWs) of solar photovoltaics (PV) in the second quarter, 8 percent higher than last year’s second quarter. Solar also accounted for 22 percent of all new electric power brought online in the US trailing only natural gas. That’s according to the latest US Solar Market Insight Report from the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and GTM Research.