Solar Power Rundown for Monday, March 1

Happy Monday, everyone. Here’s what’s popping in solar energy news:

Starting the week off right, San Jose, Calif.-based SunPower (NASDAQ:SPWRA) this morning announced a power supply agreement with Toshiba. SunPower will sell 32 megawatts’ worth of its high-efficiency monocrystalline panels to the Japanese electronics firm, which will use the panels to “form the cornerstone” of its new residential solar offering in Japan.

Adam Capital, a finance outfit specializing in bridge loans for solar energy projects, has moved its base from Arizona to Sonoma, California, reports North Bay Business Journal. CEO Adam Boucher explained the firm’s focus: “Banks are unwilling to loan on green technology, and the rebates and tax incentives offered by the state and federal governments don’t activate until the installation is complete. What’s missing is a short-term phase to get the systems built.” The company aims to provide a solution for this short-term phase.

More manufacturing capacity is coming online in the solar energy sector, reports The Financial Times (free registration required). Mitsubishi Electric, Toshiba and Showa Shell on Monday each announced plans to boost their production of solar panels, “underscoring a renewed determination by Japanese manufacturers to hold their lead in the green technology in the face of cheaper competition from China and elsewhere.” For its part, Showa Shell is spending $1 billion to transform a former Hitachi flat-screen factory into one of the world’s biggest solar-panel plants — capable of churning out nearly a gigawatt of thin-film solar cells annually.

Florida gets tons of sunshine and, as we at GetSolar have found, many of its residents are interested in installing solar energy systems. But the state lacks a cohesive and reliably funded solar incentive program. As a result, the Sunshine State isn’t quite living up to its solar potential. This doesn’t mean solar power projects aren’t getting done, however. The Orlando Business Journal reports local solar installation firms are vying for $10 million in federal stimulus money that’s earmarked for solar energy projects. GetSolar’s Margaret Collins reported on this story in her post from February 17.

Finally, as relayed by the Los Angeles Times, L.A. Mayer Antonio Vallaraigosa is moving closer to instituting a “carbon surcharge” on Department of Water and Power (DWP) customers. A recent poll shows that about two-thirds of DWP customers would support the $2.50-a-month surcharge, which would help close a budget shortfall and be applied with an eye to moving the utility “away from coal and toward wind, solar and geothermal sources of energy.” Vallaraigosa last year promised to end the utility’s reliance on coal by 2020 and, by the same year, ensure that 40 percent of the city’s electricity come from qualified renewable resources, like solar and wind. LADWP is the largest municipal utility in the country.

Now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for… it’s time for our cheesy sign off: Stay in the know. Stay plugged in with GetSolar.