Once again it’s time for the National Solar Tour! It’s a chance for people around the country to visit their neighbors’ solar-powered and energy efficient homes to see, hear and learn more about what it means to go solar and how it impacts their lives—if it does at all!

The average installed cost for residential solar is now at $2.93 per watt in the first quarter of 2016. That’s according to the latest U.S. Solar Photovoltaic System Cost Benchmark Q1 2016 just published by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). When the lab started issuing the report, in 2009, the installed cost of residential solar was $7.06 per watt, nearly three times as high. 

Last week during Climate Week NYC New York City’s Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the amount of solar power in the city has nearly quadrupled since he took office, with 96 megawatts of solar installed. However, that’s small potatoes compared to the goal the big apple goal the city has set for 2030—1,000 megawatts of solar power. 

In Minnesota NRG Energy said that it has broken ground on its first five community solar projects in Minnesota, totaling 29.1 megawatts of solar power in Xcel energy’s service area. It also announced that serval national companies will source at least some of their energy from the community solar projects. 

Today (Sept. 27) a suit against Obama’s Clean Power Plan, which requires states to cut their power generation emissions 32-percent by 2030, is being heard in the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit. Environmental and clean energy advocates have heralded the mandate but it has many Republican, fossil fuel industry and conservative opponents. 

Over the past few weeks, the Land Art Generator Initiative (LAGI) competition has been introducing a series of new illustrations and concepts aimed at showing how renewable and sustainable energy sources can meet the nation’s needs, from energy to solar-powered water salinization. One of the latest is a map of California showing just how much land mass would be needed to power the whole state with renewable energy. Guess what, it’s not that much. 

Today (Sept. 26) SolSmart announced that 22 communities across the US achieved SolSmart status from the Department of Energy’s SunShot Initiative. The program recognizes cities, towns and counties for making it faster, easier and cheaper to go solar largely by reducing the “soft costs” or non-material costs of going solar. 

In less than a year, Duke Energy’s South Carolina solar rebate program has already issued nearly $5 million in rebates to customers. Already more than 750 residential and more than 35 businesses have applied for solar rebates in the state showing the interest of solar power in the state. 

This week Albuquerque, NM, announced that 25 percent of its city facilities will use solar power by 2025. The announcement came as Environment America expanded the Shining Cities campaign to convince local governments to expand the use of solar power.

Last week Nevada’s Public Utilities Commission (PUC) reversed an order allowing homeowners with solar to get the net-metered payments they expected when they signed up for solar power. But that wasn’t enough for the Bring Back Solar Alliance and other solar advocates and today both Patagonia and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) added flame to the fire, pushing for the state to reintroduce net-metering for homeowners that want to add solar power to their rooftops.