GetSolar.com Blog

Good News! New Solar Financing Options for Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey

The folks over at Clean Power Finance sent us this press release earlier today indicating an expansion of their residential solar financing product to new markets. This is indeed good news as residential solar financing is an important enabler for making solar more affordable for more customers. With low money down or no money down [...]

Solyndra Failure and US Solar Industry Myths

Rhone Resch, President and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) sent us an email today talking about the Solyndra hearings taking place on Capital Hill. Apparently the company (Solyndra) is not providing much information on their situation, which has led to a partial information vacuum during the hearings around the current state of [...]

Los Angeles Relaunches Solar Rebate: 2 Dollars is Better than Zero Dollars

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 [...]

Yosemite Dedicates Largest Solar Energy Project of Its Kind

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 [...]

Solar Lease Availability Grows: SunPower, Citi to Finance $105 Million Worth

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 [...]

Solar Power Leases, Ice Pops Coming to Five Northeastern States

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 [...]

Bye-Bye Heat Dome, Solar Panels Have Cooling Effect on Buildings

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 [...]

Redskins to Install Solar Panels, As More Pro Sports Teams Embrace Renewables

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 [...]

Solar Power ‘Standard’ in New Southern California Neighborhood

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 [...]

Arizona a Growing Hot Spot for Solar, Renewable Energy Companies

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 [...]