Yesterday the White House held a solar summit where it called on businesses and non-profits to support more solar power throughout the U.S. At the summit the President awarded members of the solar community while pushing for more solar deployment and jobs. 

The Department of Energy launched its Solar Market Pathways effort to support community solar projects earlier this year, but today (April 17) the department is offering $15 million to support community solar projects across the U.S. Such projects allow those who can’t put solar on their homes or businesses an opportunity to still reap the benefits of harvesting the sun. 

Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital partnered with Sol Systems to launch a fund of up to $100 million to to support distributed solar projects. The fund will support commercial, industrial, municipal and utility-scale solar projects, according to the companies. 

Maybe that sounds dramatic, but it’s true. Soon unmanned ariel drones will be coursing the skies with laser beams. And there’s likely an ensuing a battle in the skies, but don’t expect Skynet to knock on your door in search of John Conner just yet. This is a battle of connectedness which will play out over our heads at tens of thousands of feet at the edge of the atmosphere and solar power has a vital part to play in it. It will fuel the Internet as companies increasingly go above the cloud to spread access to the Internet to remote locations where it’s not currently easily accessible via land lines or other options. 

Between 2007 and 2013 clean energy development in North Carolina has generated $4.7 billion in the state. That’s according to a new report out from the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association (NCSEA), which commissioned the study from RTI International. The report shows the significant value that renewable energy, like solar power and biomass, as well as energy efficiency, has contributed to North Carolina’s economy, generating fully $1.93 in revenue for every dollar invested. 

With 132 megawatts of solar installed within its city limits Los Angeles is the city with the highest amount of installed solar in the U.S., according to Environment California Research & Policy Center’s new report: “Shining Cities: At the Forefront of America’s Solar Energy Revolution.”

Last week two reports came in looking at the solar demand in first quarter, both of which anticipated even higher demand for solar in 2014 than they previously did. In fact, NPD Solarbuzz now anticipates the global demand for new solar power will will exceed more than 50 gigawatts for the first time ever. IHS’ report anticipated that solar would reach 46 gigawatts in 2014, which is inline with some previous predictions.

Throughout April Meritage Homes is offering SunPower photovoltaic arrays to purchasers of yet to be built homes in certain of its California communities—for free. The companies announced the partnership today (April 10) under which they’re offering the solar arrays as part of their earth month celebrations. 

The first manned solar-powered plane designed to navigate the globe solely on the power of the sun, Solar Impulse 2, is complete! The new plane was unveiled today (April 9). This is the second version of the ultralight plane that Bertrand Piccard, André Borschberg and their team have completed in their quest to fly around the globe in a solar-powered plane, including overnight without needing to touch down. 

The Moapa Band of Paiute continue to show their faith in the power of the sun. The tribe is building the first giant PV array on Native American land but today announced that it completed the installation of a 252 kilowatt concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) system with energy storage. The off-grid microgrid system provides power at the Moapa Paiute Travel Plaza along Nevada’s I-15 North, which has been recently remodeled with energy efficiency at the forefront.