Continuing on in a mission that would make Jules Verne’s head spin while heralding all pioneers of aviation, Solar Impulse—the purely solar PV-powered plane—has landed in St. Louis, Missouri; the ravaged heart of tornado alley. In fact, because of recent damage at the airport, the Solar Impulse team had to deploy a mobile hangar to house the plane before it takes off on the next leg of its trans-America flight. 

Ford Motor Co. signed an agreement with Sonora80M to purchase 3 megawatts of one of the largest photovoltaic (PV) farms being built in Mexico. Sonora80M’s 20 megawatt PV farm is located in Hermosillo in the Mexican state of Sonora, where the company fittingly produces hybrid and other electric vehicles. It’s latest effort by Ford, which already has installed solar at manufacturing facilities in Germany and Michigan to incorporate more clean energy in its manufacturing processes. 

Palo Alto has taken another step towards making it easier than ever for residents of the California city to go solar. In addition to launching a feed-in tariff last year to support the expansion of rooftop solar in the city, Palo Alto has now streamlined the permitting processes for residential and commercial solar photovoltaics (PVs). 

It’s another sign that the solar photovoltaic (PV) market is continuing to build on year-over-year growth. The latest “North America PV Markets Quarterly” report from NPD Solarbuzz anticipates that the amount of solar installed in the U.S. in 2013 will blow past its previous growth records. The newest issue of report, published on June 3 anticipates that 4.3 gigawatts of PV will be installed in the U.S. in 2013. That’s more than the 3.49 gigawatts of PV installed across all of North America in 2012.

New Jersey’s Board of Public Utilities (BPU) on May 29 approved Public Service Electric and Gas Company’s (PSE&G’s) solar expansion proposals. Under the approval PSEG&G—the state’s largest utility—will allocate a significant amount of the $447 million it plans to spend on solar to support $193 million in distributed generation (smaller) projects through the Solar Loan III program. The balance will support large-scale solar projects primarily on landfills and brownfield sites through the Solar 4 All Extension program. In all, the utility could support about 143 megawatts of new solar through both programs, with the majority (97.5 megawatts) being derived from the loan program. The approval was praised by solar industry experts nationally and locally.

Solar’s getting cheaper, or at least the solar equipment (photovoltaics) side of solar is getting cheaper. The financing for solar—not so much. Now a group of business and industry leaders are coming together to create a task force with Agrion to help reduce the cost of financing for smaller solar arrays, like those on homes and businesses.

PowerOptions, a power-purchasing consortium in Massachusetts has partnered with third-party ownership and installing giant SunEdison to offer its nonprofit customers a solar option for the first time. Four educational institutions are already taking the company up on its offer.  

Kansas City—Missouri, not Kansas—is going solar in big way. The city recently signed agreements to install solar photovoltaics (PV) at 80 of its buildings, which will make it one of the most solar friendly cities in the Midwest. The city is going solar in an attempt to reduce its energy costs, like cities and towns all across the country are doing, which will begin as soon as the first array is online. 

Ernst & Young’s (EY’s) 10th annual Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index finds that the US is again the most attractive place in world for renewable energy, supplanting China, which held the top spot in the previous index. The annual report ranks 40 of the most active countries for renewables based on a number of factors, including incentives, opportunities for projects and more. 

The U.S. Army is getting greener—and its not just their green uniforms. The Department of Defense unit issued on May 22 its “Net Zero Progress Report,” an update on the Army’s efforts to produce as much energy as it uses on site, while reducing its use of water and production of waste. Among these efforts is the Army’s $7 billion Multiple Award Task Order Contracts (MATOC) for renewable energy.