Standard Solar, inc. has partnered with Sol Systems to make clean energy systems cheaper for Standard Solar’s customers by allowing them to use solar renewable energy credits (SREC’s) to pay for up to 30 percent of a solar energy installation.

Briarcliff Manor and Pleasantville in Weschester County, New York will share a federal solar grant that will allow both cities to install state-of-the-art solar photovoltaic (PV) systems atop each city’s public works department garages.

Leaders of the U.S. solar industry will have one last shot at convincing the current congress to extend a key federal solar incentive before a new republican controlled congress takes over at the beginning of 2011.

According to a White Paper released today by Westinghouse Solar and the California Solar Energy Industries Association (CALSEIA) entitled “Reducing Home Energy Costs by Combining Solar and Energy Efficiency,” average U.S. homes can reduce their energy bills the most by generating their own power, even when compared to homes that implement several other energy efficiency measures but do not install an energy system.

This time the buck stops in Utah, where the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has disbursed $3 million in ARRA funds in order to install solar atop 73 public schools statewide.

But the two financial incentives that played a key role in pumping out dollars so that Ivanpah can pump out clean energy will soon expire. The government loan guarantee program will expire next September and the opportunity to see the 30 percent tax credit in cash form will end this calendar year.

On Monday, the Colorado-based Advanced Energy Industries announced that one of its companies, PV Powered, has been contracted to carry out development work for stage three of the Solar Energy Grid Integration Systems (SEGIS) project.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced that it will contribute $8.5 million to the completion of four different utility grid infrastructure projects in three different states

The idea behind the reduction is that it will allow TEP to keep the rebate in place through the end of the year.

The power company is using state renewable energy credits and federal investment tax credits to finance the 33 total projects at schools, correctional facilities and municipal buildings that will generate roughly 100 kilowatt-hours (kWh) each. But by installing the solar energy systems in poor areas, Main Street Power will also be able to utilize federal development tax credits.