Researchers and students at the University of California, Berkley are partnering with non-profit GRID Alternatives to study off-grid solar projects in Nicaragua, Nepal and tribal communities in the US. Through the partnership Berkeley’s Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory (RAEL) will work with GRID staff to evaluate projects. The research will expand off-grid projects internationally, helping many low-income families and communities generate clean, reliable electricity. 

Hawaii residents can now purchase Sunrun BrightBox solar energy storage systems at big box retailers with monthly or prepaid leases, at little to no cost down. These systems are easy for residents to purchase and install, helping homeowners save money by storing excess power generated during the day to use at night. As a result, their reliance on the grid will be reduced and they systems will help reduce variability on the grid, which would otherwise be met by expensive grid upgrades.

In a blow to rooftop solar customers statewide, current and future, net metering was dismantled in the Silver State last December by the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) of Nevada, forcing layoffs in the sector. Now, a flurry of actions suggest that may be about to change at least existing solar customers. 

This month 13 Fort Bragg veterans graduated from the Fayetteville Technical Community College’s (FTCC’s) Solar Ready Vets program in North Carolina. In North Carolina, the solar sector accounted for 5,541 full-time jobs. That’s a promising figure for the recent graduates. 

More than half of all the electricity used at the General Motors Orion assembly plant—where the company is producing the Chevy Bolt—comes from renewable energy. In fact, fully 54 percent of power used at the plant comes from renewable energy, specifically landfill gas and a solar array. That’s earned it 8th place in the latest On-site Renewables Challenge update from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

In recent decades Utah has been warming at twice the global average causing reduced snowpack, changes in the water system and extreme weather conditions. To address these issues, Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski and other city officials have agreed to transition the city to 100 percent renewable electricity sources, like solar and wind, by 2032 and to reduce the city’s carbon footprint by 80 percent by 2040. The Climate Positive SLC commitment is a bold step in a deeply conservative state with few renewable energy incentives.

Fort Hood in Texas will soon get a whopping 40 percent of its electric needs from wind and solar sources. That’s thanks to a recently signed power-purchase agreement for 65.8 megawatts of energy. It’s a number of firsts for the Army. It’s the first solar-wind hybrid project and the first project for the Army combining on and off-site energy projects. Ultiamately it will source 100 percent of its energy needs from renewable sources, all the while saving the base $168 million in energy costs over the next 28 years. 

Alliant Energy commissioned Wisconsin’s largest solar facility last month in the Town of Beloit. The Rock River Solar project transformed the 17-acre landfill site into a 2.3 megawatt (MW) solar farm with more than 7,700 solar panels that can provide enough generate clean power to power 500 local households. 

Last week US Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM) introduced a bill with bipartisan cosponsored by Dean Heller( R-NV) and others to create investment tax credits (ITC) for energy storage systems like battery systems, which would make them less expensive and more attractive for customers, while also helping job growth and the economy. The new bill, the Energy Storage Tax Incentive and Deployment Act (S. 3159), would extend the ITC to energy storage systems both for homes and commercial systems, allowing system owners to store excess electricity produced by solar energy or other sources and use it to lower their energy costs and help balance electricity on the grid.

The first utility-scale solar project on US tribal lands hit a milestone this month when TerraSmart completed mounting for the 250 megawatt Moapa Southern Paiute Solar project. TerraSmart’s technologies met the needs of the project which included mounting an array soil conditions that made it impossible to use regular mounting tools. The project is the first part of the Moapa Band of Paiutes’ goal to develop 1.5 gigawatts of renewable energy, benefiting both the the tribe’s members and the environment by becoming an exporter of electricity.