Things move fast in the city that never sleeps and solar has been keeping pace. By the end of 2012, the amount of rooftop solar photovoltaic installations in New York City had boomed to 14 megawatts from 5.5 megawatts at the end of 2011—an increase of 8.5 megawatts in a year. That’s according to recent data from the City College of New York (CUNY) data, which shows that New York City’s aggressive program to get more solar and renewable energy in the city, as part of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's initiative to reduce the city's carbon by 30 percent by 2030, is working. 

Every year more and more organizations are using solar, wind and other green energy sources to offset their carbon footprint as much as possible, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Green Power Partnership Top 50 list, which was updated last week. The updated listings also show the number of companies that source 100 percent or more of all their power from renewable energy is on the rise. 

They may not look as pretty as the twisting, green-leaf covered branches of Vermont Hard Cider Company, LLC’s, apple trees, but the cider maker's new solar orchard—featuring 26 of AllEarth Renewable’s AllSun Trackers—will provide about 10 percent to 15 percent of its energy needs. The roughly 147 kilowatt array will allow Woodchuck to source around 40 percent of its overall energy use from a number of renewable sources, including ‘cow pie’ power that it purchases from Green Mountain Energy.

It’s April 22, Earth Day 2013, and people across the U.S. are celebrating with local festivals and fairs. Denver’s event was a cool and soggy affair, due to weather. The annual Earth Day Denver Fair was moved indoors, to the Wellington Webb Municipal Building Atrium. While Earth Day was celebrated with the unveiling of large new rooftop arrays in other parts of the country, like the 1.76 megawatt array at Assurant Specialty Property’s location near Springfield, Ohio, it’s a good thing Denver chose to move it indoors, because Colorado celebrated Earth Day by unleashing the latest in a string of late snowstorms, which are bringing the state closer to its average annual snowpack.

One of the best ways to go solar for less is by first reducing energy use. That’s the thinking behind the successful EnergySmart program in Boulder County, CO, which earlier this week, which announced that it has enrolled 10,000 residential customers in its energy and water use reduction programs—a full month ahead of schedule. 

Thanks to The Solar Foundation (TSF) people can now learn more about the solar industry in their backyard, in their neighbor states and across the country. On April 18, TSF introduced a new interactive map that showcases the nearly 120,000 jobs in America’s booming solar industry in 2012. It’s the first time that the public can easily access the data on a state-by-state basis, and explore what parts of the solar industry are biggest—including manufacturing, installing, sales, project development and associated jobs. 

The world’s first Solar Decathlon was held in Washington, D.C. on the National Mall, our nation’s front yard, in 2002. Since 2005 the competition, which invites university teams from around the world to design tomorrow’s solar homes—today, has been held biennially on the mall. It’s also inspired Europe and China to hold their own Solar Decathlons, based on the Department of Energy’s model. Now the U.S. Solar Decathlon is taking its first road trip, landing in Orange County Great Park in Irvine, Calif. The 20 competing teams have about six months until they will cross the country with their homes in tow, ready to be built onsite, for the public’s purview starting Oct. 3. 

Imagine this: You’re in a developing nation with little access to electricity. In fact, you don’t have access to a grid, or enough electricity to keep a refrigerator and a light on and water filtered in your home. Or, if you have a generator, you barely afford to pay for the expensive diesel that keeps it running. Now imagine that you’re in the U.S. with enough electricity to serve all your needs at relatively low prices, meaning you’ve got a couple extra bucks left over at the end of the month that you don’t know what to do with. Well, maybe you could help that other ‘you’ out by supporting one of Kiva’s solar entrepreneurs in developing nations. 

An increasing number of America's national parks are looking to the sun to provide their electricity. As park budgets get tighter, more may consider the long-term energy cost protection that solar offers over other energy sources. For instance, the 1 megawatt solar photovoltaic array at Death Valley National Park’s Furnace Creek Resort in California has reduced that park resort’s purchased electricity by 30 percent since the array was installed in 2008. And Yosemite National Park—also in California—installed a 672 kilowatt system in 2011 that’s capable of shaving its electric bills by about $50,000 a year. 

Across the U.S. a growing number of houses of worship are putting their faith in the sun and going solar. Most recently Solis Partners in New Jersey finished a 77 kilowatt PV array on Our Lady of Good Counsel in Ewing Township, N.J. It’s the fifth array the company has installed within the Catholic Diocese of Trenton, N.J. since February 2012. The churches there join a growing number of churches and houses of worship across the country from Colorado to Indiana that are looking to solar to help reduce their electric bills.