As Margaret has pointed out here, the benefits of harnessing solar power for an urban environment are many. This WSJ article provides an example of the advantages of solar microgeneration from the other side of the world—in Italy, a rapidly expanding solar market with plenty of sun to spare. In order to lessen the pain [...]

Early Friday evening, the House narrowly passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES), a monumental — and mammoth — piece of legislation (PDF) that, among other things, aims to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. Reactions to the bill’s passage have been varied. Republicans, by and large, have been critical of the bill’s perceived cost [...]

RT @kate_sheppard CSPAN says 219! #ACES #
RT @bradplumer Final vote for climate bill: 219-212. Eight Republicans voted for it. #ACES #
RT @bradplumer GOP substitute amendment failed in a big way. Final vote for passage of the climate bill going on now… #ACES #
Remember that solar does work on cloudy days. A refresher course on the [...]

Even if you live in the city, installing solar panels on your home or business can still make financial sense.

As lawmakers continue to make headway on climate change legislation, and as the EPA weighs in on the likely costs and implications of a cap-and-trade system as outlined by the American Clean Energy and Security Act, a new clean-energy initiative has recently crossed onto my radar. The “Gigaton Throwdown,” as its called, is a group [...]

A look at the accusations that unions are using their power to slow the approval process of solar power plants in California that refuse to use union-only labor.

Moving forward in what would be the world’s largest centralized solar power production project if realized, a consortium of 20 German businesses announced last week plans to finance Desertec, a solar project nearly as contentious as it is ambitious. The €400 billion ($555 billion) endeavor seeks to capture the ample sunlight of the North African [...]

In case you missed it, a few weeks ago Vermont established the first statewide feed-in tariff in the country. What’s a feed-in tariff, you say? In short, a feed-in tariff — or FIT — guarantees that an owner will receive a premium price for the electricity that’s generated by their distributed generation system, like solar [...]

More sunshine ahead for SoCal: 500 new MW of solar capacity in SCE territory approved by the California PUC, http://tinyurl.com/n63v56 #
RT @T_McLeod So far, only Duke and Hawaiian Electric really referencing customer issues. #KEMA #
Get on your orange jackets, its open season for Solar Power International 09 (Anaheim) registration: http://tinyurl.com/nl9otx #
Vermont enacts feed-in tariff (30 [...]

Two solar energy bills in the California Assembly have sparked controversy with state utilities, notably PG&E. The bills would change solar electric net metering laws in the state.