Overall spending on solar in the second quarter of 2015 was down to $5.9 billion, lower than the $6.4 billion in the first quarter of 2015. However, many sectors of the solar industry particularly residential and commercial solar funds saw record growth to $1.93 billion in the most recent quarter. That’s according to the Mercom Capital Group, which today (July 13) released its solar market funding and merger and acquisition (M&A) report for the quarter.

One of the more interesting uses of solar power is by a company called GlassPoint Solar. The company uses concentrating solar power (CSP) to help oil companies extract oil. The U.S.-based company announced a deal with Petroleum Development  Oman to build a 1.0 gigawatt! (that’s 1,021 megawatts) solar power plant in Oman to help the company largest producer of oil in the country produce oil. 

The biggest impact on the future of rooftop solar will be electric utility rate design, according to a report out from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The report finds that how retail electric rates are structured can dramatically impact how much solar is adopted. 

The Investment Tax Credit (ITC), the tax credit that has allowed homeowners and businesses to deduct 30 percent of the cost of a solar array from their taxes, is set to expire at the end of 2016 for residential solar and be reduced to 10 percent for commercial solar power. However, the Senate is considering a series of tax credit extensions—and extending the ITC could be among them. But to give it a chance Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) is asking that people write their legislators to support it and has created an online campaign to do so. 

Today (July 7) the White House announced the National Community Solar Partnership and ancillary plans in an effort to make it easier for middle and low-income people in the U.S. to have access to solar power. The White House also announced a goal of installing 300 megawatts of renewable energy at federally subsidized housing. 

Today (July 3) Solar Impulse continued its record-breaking journey, breaking two records for the longest solo flight in human history. The plane landed safely at Kalaeloa Airport in Hawaii after being airborne five consecutive days and nights, fueled only by the sun. 

James Cameron has designed a new solar flower that’s aimed at making solar power both functional and attractive. It’s not the first time the director has taken a pro-environmental stance. After all, when he made Avatar, he used solar to power filming and production of the film, which he had said was a first for the industry. 

New data from Austin Energy shows that the company’s recent request for proposals (RFPs) for 600 megawatts of solar power has revealed the lowest price for solar power yet—under $40 per megawatt hour or 4 cents per kilowatt hour. That’s lower than the average wholesale cost of electricity throughout the U.S., which ranged from roughly $25 per megawatt hour to more than $60 per megawatt hour on June 30, for example. 

Rooftop solar, and particularly net-metering, is increasingly under attack by many utilities across the U.S. Such entities claim they’re subsidizing solar panels, creating costs that other ratepayer must cover. However, a new report from Environment America and the Frontier Group, Shining Rewards: The Value of Rooftop Solar Power for Consumers and Society, finds that utilities are likely paying less than the value that rooftop solar provides them and their customers. 

The solar-powered plane, Solar Impulse, has taken off from Japan to Hawaii on its longest and most perilous journey yet. It’s the plane’s second attempt at the flight after suffering a weather-cased setback weeks ago that required fixing the plane and waiting for a new window of time to attempt the more than 5-day long flight across the Pacific Ocean with no possibility of landing.