Stanford University has upgraded its commitment to solar energy by announcing that the installation of solar arrays on 16 buildings across campus and the construction of a 67-megawatt solar farm for its energy needs are near completion. The university projects that the 150,000-panel solar farm near Rosamund, CA, and the rooftop solar arrays on campus will provide 53 percent of its electric needs.

Through the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change, the Canadian government will implement a nationwide tax on carbon emissions in all provinces and territories by 2018, with the goal of reducing its carbon emissions 30 percent below 2005 levels nationally by 2030. Through the country’s framework it will make the effort to reduce carbon emissions nationwide—already 80 percent of its population lives in an area with carbon reduction goals but this will make it effective across the country and help it transition to a clean energy economy.

Developer and installer, Borrego Solar Systems, is launching a new energy storage division. The division will focus on developing and constructing megawatt-sized energy storage systems as stand-alone units or devices to help integrate solar power and other renewables into the electric grid.

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) announced that four additional member-owned co-op utilities representing rural areas from Tennessee, Colorado and Kansas have joined the Solar Utility Network Deployment Acceleration (SUNDA). Each has committed to develop utility-scale solar projects of at least 1 megawatt in size.

TXU Energy, a Dallas-based utility, partnered with SunPower to offer an instant rebate of $2,000 to $5,000 to its customers who purchase SunPower solar arrays for their homes through the end of 2016. That’s in addition to crediting them the retail rate for the solar power they generate and put back on the grid. 

Gensler and Toyota of Corvallis in Oregon are collaborating to build one of the car industry’s first fully sustainable, solar-powered facilities. The net zero energy building, defined as a structure that produces at least as much energy as it consumes, will send unused power from its to the local power grid to offset demands during peak usage times in order to achieve the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Platinum status. 

California’s SunCulture Solar Inc. has announced that it will release its full sized SolPad series of plug-and-play photovoltaic panels in 2017. In what is likely a first in solar technology, the SolPad are as easy to use as plugging into an outlet because the module includes a battery, inverter and be charged by the grid as well as the sun.

The University of Tulsa (UT), in partnership with Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO), has completed one of the state’s largest rooftop solar installations on the university’s Case Tennis Center. The 300-kilowatt system will generate enough power to keep the light on in 75 homes. The university will lease the 936 photovoltaic solar panel array to from PSO, which will maintain the system.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced the completion of the 35,000th residential solar installations on Long Island. These installations have reduced carbon emissions by 200,000 tons yearly, decreased energy costs and employed almost 10,000 workers in manufacturing and engineering industries. 

There’s no better place to learn about the benefits of solar energy than watching a school produce solar power. SunPower and Colton Joint Unified School District (CJUSD) in Colton, CA, announced a partnership to install SunPower Helix carport systems at 28 schools estimated to cover 73 percent of the district’s energy needs. The district-wide installation of the Helix carport systems, along with a total of 1.1 megawatts of energy storage across seven of the schools, will provide 6.1 megawatts worth of clean energy and is expected to save the school district $35 million over the next 25 years.