The end of April deadline is just over a week away for Phoenix-area customers of SRP who currently qualify for the company’s EarthWise Solar Energy Rebate Program.

Q: Other than the word “solar”, what do these five technologies have in common? Monocrystalline solar panels; polycrystalline solar panels; thin film solar; low concentration solar; high concentration solar.
A: They will all be showcased in a single, enormous solar installation on the Yuma campus of Arizona Western College.
Arizona Western College and PPA Partners, a California-based [...]

A bill that could have seriously damaged Arizona’s solar industry has been pulled from the legislature, says House Spokesman Paul Boyer. Rep. Debbie Lesko (R) is going to withdraw the bill that would have hit solar with a double whammy: first, by removing the Corporation Commission’s ability to set renewable portfolio standards for state electric [...]

Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA) President & CEO Rhone Resch make a strong show of support for the Arizona solar industry in an op-ed for the Arizona Daily Star, co-written with Bret Fanshaw, an associate with advocacy group Environment Arizona.

Intel Corp. today announced plans to install solar photovoltaic (PV) installations at eight U.S. locations in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Oregon. The computer chip maker also announced it will increase the amount of clean power it purchases in the form of renewable energy credits (RECs) to more than 1.4 billion kilowatt hours — an [...]

For all you Phoenix-area customers of SRP, remember that the utility’s EarthWise Solar Energy Program’s excellent solar rebate is due to scale back at the end of April 2010. Right now, residential ratepayers can save up to $13,500 on the cost of a home solar installation. Also, the program offers strong incentives for commercial solar installations [...]

In an effort to spur home sales during a gloomy time for real estate, Michigan-based developer Pulte Homes has begun to offer residences with solar roofs at two of its Arizona developments, in addition to a few of its solar roof communities developed earlier elsewhere the country. Since the beginning of the new year, Pulte [...]

In order to pull out of the solar energy development business, Edison Mission Group (EMG) had to sell of a string of projects already under way. Thin-film industry darling First Solar (FSLR), the integrator with whom EMG had been working, bought the whole set for an undisclosed number. Stocks have suffered a bit in the [...]

Customers of Arizona utility SRP were warned in December that the utility was planning to increase electric rates by 4.9 percent late this spring. This is a scaling back of SRP’s original plan to hike rates by 8.8 percent, a plan derailed by the economy, and should only add about $6 to an average electric [...]

Often, the first thing someone wants to know about solar is: How much does it cost? When I talk to people about their interest in solar power, I try to emphasize that this is not only a difficult question to answer, but often, it isn’t the correct one to ask in the first place. Having [...]