Among the jobs and industries most threatened by power are coal jobs. However researchers are showing that coal workers could find jobs in, well, solar power—the very thing that may have taken their jobs in the first place. 

As the rooftop solar power market matures it’s able to attract more interest from investors. Case in point OneRoof Energy announced that it will sell 19.8 megawatts of its solar project assets through two new transactions, which should generate up to $61 million. 

New York’s rooftops could provide up to 37.4 percent of the Empire State’s electric needs. That’s one of the findings from a new solar integration study by the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO), which manages the electric grid in the state. However, the study also observed that the state’s transmission grid will have to change to accommodate the increases in renewable energy from solar and wind.

Community solar power is booming. People like it because they can go solar even if they can’t put solar on their own roofs. Utilities like it because they have greater input into the siting and design of a community solar power project as opposed to a residential project. But there’s still a lot for people to learn about the opportunity community solar promises so today (July 1) the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and the Coalition for Community Solar Access (CCSA) introduced their Residential Consumer Guide to Community Solar.

Perhaps Yale University wasn’t happy with just giving grades to students, but it’s created an important new resource to understand how Connecticut’s 169 municipalities are embracing solar power. As such, they also show how other communities are doing and what’s enabled them to have higher or lower scores. 

Just three companies First Solar, SunEdison and SunPower account for 44 percent of the operations and maintenance providers in the US according to IHS’s recently released Solar EPC and O&M Providers Report - North America - 2016. The report dives into the currently $300 million—and growing—market to offer insight on O&M for solar projects.

Today (June 29) Sungevity made two, concordant major announcements, that it will merge with Easterly Acquisition Corp. and become a publicly traded company. The move will help residential solar company Sungevity raise funds and compete with its publicly traded competitors SolarCity, Sunrun and Vivint Solar. 

Today (June 29) at the North America Leader’s Summit the Three Amigos (President Obama, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto) announced that their countries will source 50 percent of their power from clean sources by 2025 under the new North American Climate, Clean Energy, and Environment Partnership Action Plan. The plan will increase the amount of renewable energy deployed in each country and create opportunities to allow for more cross-border electric transmission. The action plan was made to help the countries meet their promises under the Paris climate summit last year, which they ratified on Earth Day this year.

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the Terrawatt Initiative are leading the Solar Energy Standardisation Initiative. The initiative aims to help spur development of solar projects throughout the world by simplifying the process of going solar. Specifically the initiative will focus on standardizing contracts that will help streamline the financing process of solar projects and speed their development.

Last week BMW announced that it’s getting into the home battery market albeit a bit differently than Tesla. Instead of just offering a brand new battery system like Tesla’s Powerwall, BMW is offering people a chance to recycle their car battery—to power their home.