NV Energy and a group of solar installers, including SolarCity and Sunrun, asked the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (PUCN) to extend a solar net-metering deadline through July 1. The extension, if allowed, would help the utility and solar companies enroll up to 8,000 eligible rooftop solar customers in NV Energy’s grandfathered net-metering programs. 

Solar advocates and environmental organizations in Nevada are celebrating the next step to offering community solar in the state thanks to the introduction of Community Solar Bill SB392. If passed, the bill would offer the benefits of community solar to renters, low-income families and people that do not have access to solar options. 

The US has a reputation for its world-class solar research while China is recognized as the world’s largest solar manufacturer. A new report, The New Solar System, published by Stanford University researchers recommends that the US and China work together to efficiently expand the international solar market by reassessing trade policies and by collaborating in research and development. 

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) is teaming up with 17 member-owned rural energy co-ops across the US. Under its PV System Toolkit program, NRECA will assist rural utilities add more than 23 megawatts (MWs) of utility-scale solar project across 15 states, including Texas, Georgia and Tennessee, by the end of 2017. The program will help these rural utilities harness a ready-to-use collection of engineering designs, financing models and materials suites to navigate the steps of integrating solar into their energy portfolios. 

Industrial energy efficiency software firm, Arkados Group, announced plans to acquire solar developer SolBright Renewable Energy in a $15 million deal. Under the proposal, Arkados will buy SolBright’s assets with a mix of cash, debt and stock. The deal includes $40 million of SolBright’s energy projects and its projects in development across the eastern US. 

Solar advocates and utilities are facing-off in Missouri over proposed legislation that could allow utilities to impose up to 75 percent in new fees on rooftop solar customers. House Bill 340, proposed by State Representative Travis Fitzwater (R), would enable utilities to recover costs they claim get passed on to non-solar customers for allowing net-metering and grid connections. The bill also would limit the definition of “retail electric supplier” and prohibit rural electric cooperatives and municipal utilities with less than 20,000 meters from offering net-metering for customers that want to install solar.

Environment America recently released a report which highlights how colleges and universities throughout the US can achieve 100 percent sustainability by 2050. The report, Renewable Energy 100: The Course to a Carbon-Free Campus, features institutions across the country that are currently committed to reducing carbon emissions through the development of renewables like solar and wind. 

Grid Alternatives, Vote Solar and the Center for Social Justice discussed their recently released Low-Income Solar Policy Guide 2017 at the Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association’s (COSEIA’s) Solar Power Colorado 2017 Conference. The guide aims to improve the ability for lower-income people to access to the benefits of solar power. The guide’s recommendations have already helped increase access in some communities like Denver and Washington, DC. 

Organizations representing construction, manufacturing and electrical workers joined solar and wind advocates in signing a letter to Congressional leaders urging them to take action that ensure electric grid updates are made if any infrastructure legislation is passed. The signatories also encouraged Congress to promote grid investments to reduce the impacts of outages and to increase transmission efficiency and security.  

SolSmart recognized seven new cities and counties for their work to reduce the soft cost barriers that limit solar market growth. Soft costs, or non-hardware investments like attaining proper permits to install solar arrays and connect them to the grid, now represent up to two-thirds of the cost of an installed residential system. SolSmart is a campaign supported by the Department of Energy’s SunShot Initiative to reduce such barriers.