June 2017

Job creation. Both on the campaign trail and ever since moving into the White House, Donald Trump has promised U.S. job creation. So then why is the president so fixated on reviving the coal industry while ignoring the vast economic benefits of renewable energy? We all knew that Trump would roll back the Obama administration’s [...]

Across the U.S., the cost of solar energy systems continues to fall at an accelerating rate. Our latest data report saw prices drop by over 6% between the first and second half of 2016 – the greatest rate of decline since we started tracking prices in 2014. Yet despite consumer-friendly prices, solar installers are still [...]

Over the last decade, the costs of residential solar photovoltaic (PV) systems in the U.S. have steadily declined, and many stakeholders – including homeowners, utilities and regulators – are increasingly considering the value of energy storage tied to PV systems. How can distributed energy storage enhance grid operations? Is it cost-effective? How will costs evolve [...]

In 2013, the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) introduced the iconic “duck curve” chart depicting the expected effects of variable renewable resources – primarily utility-scale solar – on grid conditions. Since then, the conditions predicted have come to pass: meaningful midday overproduction and late-day ramps. Yet, when measured as a percentage of net generation or [...]

Developing a utility-scale solar project requires a large upfront investment, which makes accurately predicting how much power it will produce a critical component of the process. The financial risks of both over- or underperforming expectations are substantial. Underperform and you risk defaulting on your loan. Overperform and you may discover you have overbuilt your plant, [...]

As a project developer at Borrego Solar, I’ve had the opportunity to work on several projects at colleges and universities, as well as learn from my colleagues who have also developed such projects. Through the nearly 40 MW we have installed in the education space, we’ve come to know the opportunities and challenges intimately. Here, [...]

Solar, Wind Provided Over Half Of New U.S. Capacity In Q1 Wind and solar power provided more than half of the new electrical generating capacity added to the U.S. grid during the first quarter of the year, says a new report from the SUN DAY Campaign, citing statistics from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). [...]

Tesla Starts Taking Solar Roof Tile Orders In May, Tesla officially started taking orders for its new Solar Roof tiles and finally released some details about the much-anticipated products. The news came a bit later than originally planned, as Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted in March that the company would start taking orders in April. [...]

Arizona Utility Names Solar Farm In Memory Of Employee Arizona-based utility UniSource Energy Services (UES) has dedicated a new 5 MW solar array in memory of an employee who helped to keep the lights on for more than 30 years in Mohave County. UES says the Steven H. Jacobson Solar Facility, located north of Kingman, [...]

Florida Lawmakers Green-Light Pro-Solar Amendment 4 The Florida state legislature has officially approved a bill to implement the pro-solar Amendment 4, which voters overwhelmingly passed with 73% of the vote on the August 2016 primary ballot. The bill, S.B.90, is slated to reduce tax barriers for Floridians who want to go solar while also ensuring [...]