By December 2010, construction will be completed and the University of Arizona’s TechPark – a solar industry research and demonstration integration center – will play host to a 1.6-megawatt (MW) solar energy system dually built by SOLON Corporation and TEP.

Yesterday, FPL finally received recognition for all of its over achievement when the utility was given the Southeastern Electric Exchange’s (SEE) Chairman’s Award. It is the highest award given the SEE, which is a non-profit association of investor-owned electric utility companies.

SRP has launched a utility rebate program to stimulate consumer purchase of qualifying home efficient technologies and appliances, including clothes and dish washers, duct repairs and Heat, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system check-ups.

Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D-Sacramento) announced yesterday the U.S. Department of Energy’s allocation of $5 million in federal stimulus funds to Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) in order to develop California’s first “solar highway,” as well as four other renewable energy projects, such as a facilities that compost organic waste to generate energy. In order to develop this [...]

Representatives of the German and Moroccan governments are scheduled to meet this week to discuss European investment in concentrated solar power and water desalinization in the North African country.

California enacts SB-17, becoming the nation’s first state to sign smart grid legislation into law.

The Platts Smart Grid Policy and Implementation Forum kicked off this morning with a keynote address from Dr. Alicia Jackson. With general bipartisan support for smart grid on the Federal level, Dr. Jackson advises that we must be conscious to make sure direct investments now to fully optimize the grid of the future.

Platts’s Smart Grid Policy & Implementation Forum conference is this coming Monday and Tuesday in Washington, DC. GetSolar will see you there!

Microsoft has announce a new program, the Smart Energy Reference Architecture, that hopes to create an integrated utility for the smart grid industry.

Capgemini’s Smart Energy Practice Executives Gary Paul and Andy Roehr sit down with Get Solar to talk about the smart grid, solar energy, and how policy is the key to making it all become a reality.