California Governor Jerry Brown yesterday signed into law a mandate requiring utilities get a third of their electricity from renewable resources like solar panels and wind turbines. The new bill promises to bring certainty to a fast-growing market for solar energy, in particular. With the transition to a new Governor this year, the future of [...]

A new report from the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute (HNEI) suggests that the island of O’ahu could meet a quarter of its electricity needs using solar power and wind resources. “The findings of this study show it is feasible to integrate large-scale wind and solar projects on Oahu but also have value beyond Hawaii. Both large [...]

Within the solar energy industry, the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) is looked to as a leading source of information on renewable energy policy — at the municipal, state and federal levels. In addition to helping run the DSIRE database, the organization issues countless reports and studies on things like net metering, interconnection and workforce [...]

Sopogy – a Honolulu-based company that pioneered Micro-Scaled Concentrating Solar Power (MicroCSP) – will partner with Keahole Solar Power and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) to build the Kalaelola Solar One Plant in western Honolulu.

The Hawaiian Hospitality Group, Inc. (HHGI) – which works with all levels of government to ease land restrictions on under-used waterfront property on the Hawaiian islands in order to use the land for recreation and/or visitor-serving income projects – will soon utilize solar energy on its own develoment properties.

Hawaii’s plans for a feed-in tariff — which have been in the works for quite some time — are one step closer to being realized, thanks to a decision Wednesday by the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission (HPUC). The decision is part of a broad push in Hawaii to get 40 percent of the state’s electricity from [...]

What do you get when you take two innovative American solar-panel manufacturers and combine them with the world’s biggest retailer? A slew of new solar energy projects, 500 new jobs and a whole lotta clean, predictably priced power. Thank you, may we have some more? In recent years, Walmart has been busy installing solar panels [...]

As far as awards go, the ones announced yesterday by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) are by most measures modest. How headline-grabbing, after all, are caulk, weather stripping and energy-efficient washing machines? (Answer: Not very.) While lacking the glamor of an Oscar, however, the ACEEE’s Top Energy-Efficiency Awards arguably touch on matters [...]

When it comes to solar hot water, these are The Little Islands That Could. Hawaii’s strong investment in solar water heating technology has given their state the enviable designation of Solar Hot Water Leader within the United States. It’s also made these water heating systems an even more attractive investment. Check out the size of [...]

The United States Air Force has signed a contract with the Schafer Corporation of Massachusetts to allow a test of concentrating solar power (CSP) at a Maui, Hawaii military site in an attempt to offset a military computer system’s power demand.