Ah, nothing like a mid-summer promotion… lucky for us, this one is actually pretty cool. Sungevity, a California-based company that bankrolls the option to lease solar panels for an increasing number of Americans, is coming to five northeastern states — in an ice pop truck. As part of the company’s Rooftop Revolution campaign, Sungevity representatives [...]

Despite perceptions to the contrary, New York City is by some measures the most environmentally friendly city in America: “Eighty-two per cent of Manhattan residents travel to work by public transit, by bicycle, or on foot. That’s ten times the rate for Americans in general, and eight times the rate for residents of Los Angeles County. New [...]

Arizona, California, Colorado, Massachusetts, New York: Residents of these states can expect prime opportunities to go solar in 2011 as these five state’s governors’ have made solar energy production and solar technology development a top priority for the new year and beyond.

Earlier this month, Ron Kamen, president of the New York Solar Energy Industries Associaton (NYSEIA), spoke about the group’s future goals at the Cornell School of Industrial and Labor Relations in Buffalo. Here are some of the main projects the group will be working on in 2011 and beyond:

The Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) – a non-profit regional electricity provider – has run into a problem that has plagued many utility companies that have offered solar incentive programs: too many people are interested.

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.

Reducing consumption and making energy efficient improvements are two of the five necessary steps to going solar for both commercial buildings and homes.

The company approached Mooradians Furniture in upstate New York about installing solar energy systems atop two of Mooradians locations – one in Albany and one in Clifton Park – that together will save the company $500,000 in utility bills over the next 20 years.

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 [...]

If you want to grow the solar industry here, you have to produce the equipment here, you have to use the equipment here, and you have to deploy the product here. And then you have to develop an export market.”