Developing and financing solar around the world just got a lot easier thanks to the release of the online Global Solar Atlas. The new tool, introduced by the International Solar Alliance (ISA) and the World Bank allows investors and policymakers from around the world access to 22 years of solar radiation data from satellite and ground-based measurement. The tool enables users to evaluate potential solar sites in one region or in multiple countries simultaneously.

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) predicted that solar power will account for 7 percent of all electricity generated worldwide and could reach a production capacity of 1,760 gigawatts by 2030. That’s according to a new report entitled REthinking Energy. In it, IRENA projected that the cost of utility-scale solar power could decrease more than 50 percent by 2025 thanks to innovative battery storage and off-grid technologies, increased investments and revision of renewable energy policies.

With Arizona reaching 1 gigawatt of solar power in 2016, second only to California, major online corporations, universities and utilities are taking advantage of every ray of sunlight in the southwestern state. In the latest example, Arizona Public Service (APS) commissioned a 40-megawatt solar farm that’s producing energy for two corporate customers, PayPal and Arizona State University (ASU). 

Plug-and-play solar panels are coming to market. At least if SunCulture has anything to do about it. The company announced pricing and pre-orders for its SolPad, a solar panel and battery system that allows owners to directly plug into the device and use it to power their electronics or chain multiple units together to power larger devices or appliances.

Residential solar provider, Vivint Solar has raised $303 million in financing in two major transactions led by Bank of America Merrill Lynch. It closed a $203 million fixed rate, 18-year term debt facility with four institutional investors allowing it install 214 megawatts of solar across 30,000 homes. It also closed another $100 million investment deal with Bank of America allowing it to install more than 66 megawatts of residential solar systems nationwide with that financing.

Loveland, CO’s  3.5-megawatt solar farm is the first electricity generating facility to receive approval and funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The $9.2 million Foothills Solar and Substation project, built with the Platte River Power Authority, replaces the 900 kilowatt Idylwilde Hydroelectric Dam which was destroyed during the 2013 Colorado Front Range Flood.

Solar industry and utility companies can play nice. Investor-owned utility National Grid is investing $100 million into Sunrun to develop 200 megawatts of residential solar homes. The partnership includes a co-marketing campaign that will initially target 100,000 single family homes in National Grid’s downstate New York service area.

LG Electronics USA was recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with its 2016 Gold Tier Award for recycling of keeping 67,714 tons of carbon dioxide into the earth’s atmosphere. The award was granted as part of the EPA’s Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) challenge for electronics.

Wind could provide 20 percent of western US's electricity in 2030 and up to 35 percent in 2050—saving consumers billions—by adding to and updating grid transmission infrastructure, according to a new US Department of Energy (DOE) report, authored by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

With a new—potentially anti-solar—political climate taking shape in the Capital, Solar Power Colorado 2017 is an early chance to see how the industry is preparing for what could be a more hostile climate than it saw in the past in eight years. However, renewable energy has changed a lot in the past decade. This year’s Solar Power Colorado theme reflects that with the theme: Innovation: Making Solar Mainstream.