The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) last week issued its annual assessment of the California Solar Initiative, a $2.2 billion effort to install 1,940 megawatts (MW) of solar capacity across the state by 2016. On balance, the commission’s findings are positive: Three years into the state’s 10-year solar program, California is already 42 percent of [...]

For the third and final installment of our GRID Alternatives series, Getsolar hit the road and visited a GRID installation site in Oakland, California to gain a better understanding of how the organization is impacting some of California’s low-income communities.

CalRENEW-1, California’s first utility-scale photovoltaic (PV) solar energy project, was dedicated yesterday in the northern California city of Mendota in Fresno County.

Last week, CleatTech America, the company that developed the CalRNEW-1 project, announced they had entered into a power purchasing agreement (PPA) with Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) thourgh which CalRENEW-1 will provide PG&E with 5 megawatts (MW) of emission-free peaking solar electricity.

Sun Power Corp. and Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) have etched out a contract that will add 40 megawatts (MW) of photovoltaic (PV) energy capacity to a planned solar farm in San Luis Obispo County, California that, when complete, will be one of the largest solar farms in the world.

Marin County in California wants to purchase electricity on behalf of its citizens, a move that would bypass the state’s largest utility, Pacific Gas and Electric Co., and could lead other local governments to follow suit. According to a recent article in the San Francisco Chronicle, last Thursday the county’s new public power agency — the [...]

You may have heard about the new technology that promises to extend solar power production into previously unknown territory: darkness. The key ingredient is a type of salt that acts as a thermal mass, becoming molten during the heat of the day and then releasing that stored heat at night to provide steam to power [...]

Yesterday saw a surprisingly positive new chapter in California’s net metering saga roll out. PG&E is voluntarily expanding its net metering program in the absence of new legislation that would mandate such a move. PG&E customers can continue to explore solar as a valuable investment for some time to come now–without this move, many were [...]

US Chamber of Commerce releases a statement addressing recent furor over members’ opposition to the Chamber’s stance on climate change legislation.