While the world was saying goodbye to 2010 on New Year’s Eve, many in the solar indsutry were gladly welcoming in 2011 — a year that ushered in a plethora of solar energy policies upon its arrival.

FedEx got on the express track to environmental sustainability this week, both in the United States and abroad. The company’s overseas solar energy venture was completed yesterday, as the company opened a solar-powered hub at the Cologne Bonn Airport in Germany that covers 16,000 square meters. The solar energy system is expected to produce 800,000 kilowatt-hours [...]

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 largest rooftop solar project in the Pacific Northwest was completed today atop the roofs of seven separate ProLogis distribution facililties in Portland, Gresham and Clackamas, Oregon.

A little over a year ago, we reported that Oregon lawmakers were developing a pilot feed-in tariff program, following the passage of House Bill 3039. Now, countless meetings later, the Oregon Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has finally issued rules on the new initiative. Assuming you don’t want to read the hundred or so pages of background [...]

The Portland Timbers of the United Soccer Leagues will become the newest Major league Soccer (MLS) franchise in 2011, but the organization has already made MLS and U.S. soccer history before ever heading in a corner kick or receiving a red card. On February 25, the Timbers announced that they will be sponsored by SolarWorld, [...]

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 [...]

The state of Oregon has had a long-standing reputation for green-mindedness, so perhaps it was only a matter of time before news surfaced of its farmers employing renewable energy to power their crops. This Associated Press story from yesterday highlights the increasing frequency with which agriculturalists in the Beaver State have been tapping into clean [...]

Speaking of feed-in tariffs (FITs), yesterday Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski signed into law a series of energy- and environment-related bills. Among them is House Bill 3039, which “directs the PUC [Public Utilities Commission] to develop a pilot program to integrate 25 megawatts of small scale solar energy into Oregon’s electricity mix using a feed-in tariff. [...]

This not-exactly economical solar table and a great instance of the Olympics using solar deserve mention, but cooler still is Oregon’s decision to use solar to help power a highway interchange. OregonLive.com, which reported the story, states that “it represents a critical first step in what the department envisions as widespread use of solar energy.” [...]