Today’s rundown of solar and energy news will be short and sweet. Without further ado or distraction:

Alteris Renewables, Inc. — the largest designer and installer of renewable energy systems in the Northeast — today announced that it has acquired ISI Solar of New York, NY, via PRNewswire. Ron French, president of Alteris’s solar business, had the following to say: “The solar markets in both New York and New Jersey are growing, and the need to provide quality-engineered solar energy solutions is more important than ever. By combining with ISI Solar and by expanding further into New York and New Jersey, Alteris will be able to make its affordable and reliable solar energy systems available to more customers.”

In Hawaii solar news, a number of public high schools are set to host rooftop solar panel installations, via Pacific Business News (Honolulu). Under an agreement with the Hawaii Department of Education (DOE), Hawaii Pacific Solar, an installer, will put panels atop: “Kaimuki High School, Aiea High School, Waianae High School and Kahuku High and Intermediate Schools.” DOE will purchase the electricity generated by the systems, saving an estimated $1 million over the life of the installations and reducing petroleum imports by more than 400 barrels per year. Solar electric systems can make a lot of sense in Hawaii, which is home to the country’s highest electricity rates.

In broader energy sector news, executives of the three main companies involved in the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico — BP, Halliburton and Transocean — playing the hot potato blame game, according to the Associated Press. Company heads are in Washington this two for hearings in front of two Senate committees, the Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the Public Health Committee. In related news, the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has set up an excellent online resource for tracking the spill. (Ever diplomatic, the public administration refers to the event as the “Deepwater Horizon Incident,” as opposed to the more apt “Deepwater Horizon Accident.”)

Finally today, solar stocks — like some 90 percent of U.S.-listed shares — were yesterday trading way up. Notably, Chinese panel maker LDK Solar (NYSE:LDK) beat Q1 profit estimates; German solar panel maker Q-Cells (ETR:QCE) narrowed its first quarter loss; and JA Solar Holdings (NASDAQ:JASO), also a Chinese panel maker, reported Q1 revenues that were 17 percent over the fourth quarter of 2009.

That’s all for today. Thanks for reading — we’ll see you back here tomorrow.