From the perspective of homeowners and businesses looking to go solar, the bigger the solar rebate the better. From the perspective of the utilities and government agencies that finance those rebates, often the opposite is true.

Usually, the decided upon rebate level ends up somewhere between these two parties’ preferences.

That appears to be the case with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP), which on Tuesday announced it will in September relaunch its solar energy rebate program at a new, lower level. Back in April, the utility suspended the program, citing record demand and dwindling coffers.

Once reopened, DWP’s solar incentive program will offer residential rebates …click here to read more

What better place to host the biggest solar energy installation at a U.S. national park than Yosemite? Tucked in a region that gets more annual sunshine than just about anywhere in the country, the California park boasts nearly perfect conditions for solar power.

Officials several days ago inaugurated the 672-kilowatt (kW) solar array, which comprises a 500-kW parking canopy for employees and visitors; a 100-kW rooftop solar array atop a warehouse; and a 72-kW wall-mounted installation (pictured above).

As we reported over a year ago, it was originally speculated that the “solar panels are expected to generate electricity at a levelized cost of about 13 cents per kilowatt hour, reducing annual electricity costs by about $104,000.” According to The Business Journal, however, those annual energy costs savings are actually projected to be closer to $50,000 — equivalent to around 12 percent of the park’s annual electricity needs.

All 2,800 solar panels were supplied by …click here to read more

Solar leasing is well on its way to becoming mainstream.

SunPower Corp. and Citi today announced a new fund to finance approximately $105 million in residential solar lease projects. According to the announcement, the lease program will be available to qualifying homeowners in eight states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.

Here’s a requisite sound bite:

“Citi’s global financial leadership combined with SunPower’s leading technology and quarter century of experience offer customers an unprecedented level of assurance that is vitally important when a homeowner enters into a 20-year lease agreement,” said SunPower CFO Dennis Arriola. “We are proud to partner with Citi, and applaud its commitment to promoting the use of solar power.”

Solar leases enable homeowners to pay a monthly fee for their solar home energy system rather than buy it outright. The approach makes good financial sense in those parts of the country where …click here to read more

Ah, nothing like a mid-summer promotion… lucky for us, this one is actually pretty cool.

Sungevity, a California-based company that bankrolls the option to lease solar panels for an increasing number of Americans, is coming to five northeastern states — in an ice pop truck.

As part of the company’s Rooftop Revolution campaign, Sungevity representatives will pile into a bio-diesel-powerd ice pop truck equipped with solar panels and tour New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts and Delaware. Destinations along the route include events like music festivals, county fairs, farmers markets and minor league baseball games.

Two other solar lease providers, SunRun and SolarCity, are already active in parts of New England and the Mid-Atlantic. …click here to read more

In light of the recent heat wave — er, heat dome — that has been blanketing the country, we thought it’d be fitting to share one of the interesting side benefits of solar panels: they can help keep your roof cool. Here’s how it works, in general terms:

Solar panels are typically installed on a rack that stands off against the roof. The resulting gap between the panels and the underlying shingles allows air to circulate around the array. This setup is good for the solar panels, which perform best in cooler temperatures. It’s also good for the roof, the ceiling and the residents inside.

It turns out that the gap and the panels create a thermal barrier that helps keep the inside of the building cool. Recently revisited by the Independent, a 2010 report confirms that buildings with rooftop solar panels are typically cooler than those without: …click here to read more

In recent years, a number of pro sports teams have seen solar panels installed at their home venues. It appears the Washington Redskins aim to join the list.

According to the Washington Post, the NFL team will soon announce plans to install solar a big energy system at FedEx Field. Composed of 8,000 solar panels, the 2-megawatt (MW) system is expected to generate enough electricity to offset the facility’s annual electricity consumption by about 15 percent. The array will also create a covered carport, featuring 10 electric-vehicle charging stations and enough spaces for 850 cars.

The Redskins organization will enlist NRG Energy, a New Jersey-based energy services company, to handle the design and installation of the project.

Speaking about the Skins’ soon-to-be-announced solar plans, David Krichavsky, the NFL’s director of media affairs, noted …click here to read more

Judging from a 2006 survey, a remarkable number of U.S. homeowners have become interested residential solar energy in recent years.

As a result, more and more U.S. homebuilders are actively building out their solar-powered home offerings. Big-name builders like Pulte Homes, Meritage Homes and KB Home have all been jockeying for top spot as the provider solar-powered, energy-efficient homes.

KB Home is the latest to notch a success.

The Los Angeles-based homebuilder yesterday announced the grand opening of a solar home community in Lancaster, California. Situated in Antelope Valley, KB Home’s Arroyo community is the first in the area to offer solar energy systems as a standard feature on all new homes.

To be sure, the standard systems on offer aren’t particularly large. …click here to read more

Blessed with lots of sunshine, Arizona is a great place to install solar panels. Thanks to a pro-business climate and its close proximity to big markets, like California, the state is turning out to be a great place to make solar panels, too.

Consider that the two world’s two biggest solar panel manufacturers have Arizona-based operations: thin-film maker First Solar has long called Tempe home, while Suntech, a China-based company, opened shop in the Phoenix area last October. All told, Arizona is home to more than 100 “significant solar energy businesses,” according to PV Magazine.

The uptick in business has been welcomed. In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent recession, many governors took up job creation as a top priority. Perhaps more than in any other state, Arizona officials have enacted policies intended to encourage renewable energy companies to set up instate operations. …click here to read more

Each year, Larry Sherwood of the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) releases an annual report summarizing recent trends in the U.S. solar energy market. And guess what? (Get excited…)

His latest report, U.S. Solar Market Trends 2010, was released just a couple of days ago.

In it, you’ll read about the phenomenal growth witnessed by the solar industry in 2010. Main highlights include:

• The capacity of photovoltaic (PV) installations completed in 2010 doubled compared to the similar figure in 2009.
• Much of this gain was due to growth in utility-scale solar PV projects, …click here to read more

The world of solar leasing just got a whole lot more interesting.

Last week, Google announced a plan to invest $280 million in SolarCity, a California-based company that offers solar leases in ten states across the U.S.

Hours after, news broke that Suntech Power Holdings Co. Ltd — a large China-based manufacturer of solar panels — was working on plans to offer a solar home energy lease option of its own. Both developments are likely to increase the availability of solar leases to qualifying homeowners in select states. …click here to read more