Would you believe that there are now more people working in the solar industry than at oil rigs and gas fields? With a 20 percent increase in size, the solar industry added more than 35,000 jobs — making about 209,000 solar energy employees working in the U.S. alone. [...]

Apple Inc. agreed to buy the output from a proposed 200-MW solar farm in Nevada to help power a data center in Reno. [...]

Everyone makes mistakes — and I’ve certainly made my share of them. On this week’s Energy Show on Renewable Energy World we will discuss in detail some of the most common homeowner and installer mistakes that I’ve seen over the past 15+ years — as well as the actions we can take to do things right the first time. [...]

COSEIA has just filed testimony to the Public Utilities Commission on an important Xcel docket that governs Xcel’s advance grid infrastructure including “smart” meters and the communication components that will transmit data from customers to Xcel and back again. Use, protection and ownership of the data produced by new grid and meter technology is a hot issue in many states right now. While utilities tend to want to control that data, consumers and solar companies could benefit in importa [...]

From Q215 to 1Q16, U.S. wind power jobs increased 32 percent and solar jobs increased 25 percent, while geothermal jobs decreased 25 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2017 U.S. Energy and Employment Report. [...]

This week in Wyoming, legislators introduced a new law that would keep the state’s utilities from purchasing utility-scale wind and solar power produced inside or outside of Wyoming. [...]

At the center of our solar system, approximately 92.96 million miles away, is a nuclear power plant capable of powering the entire globe. We know it by its most common name: our sun. [...]

Americans like solar. Study after study has shown that the American public supports solar and wants the country to use more of it. Corporations like solar, too. When a company signs a solar PPA, it in effect locks in lower electricity prices for a fixed timeframe, which is music to the ears of the Chief Financial Officer.  The fact that that energy is clean and renewable is music to the ears of the Chief Marketing Officer or  Chief Sustainability Officer.  All good, right? [...]

Jenn Runyon, Chief Editor of Renewable Energy World and Paula Mints, Chief Market Research Analyst with SPV Market Research discuss three hot topics in the global solar industry for three minutes each. Today’s topics include an innovative utility program in Vermont, the importance of quality in the renewable energy industry and how low PPA prices for solar projects impact the industry. Check it out. [...]

Since April 2016, there has been 21 MW of new solar PV community mini-grid capacity announced in emerging global markets, according to a new report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF). [...]

COSEIA Executive Director Rebecca Cantwell published an Op Ed piece in Solar Industry Magazine (January 2017) describing her experiences negotiating a complex settlement agreement with Xcel Energy last year. The settlement resolved issues from Xcel’s virtual barrage of PUC filings in 2016. We republish it here for your convenience: “As executive director of the Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association, I spent much of my summer in corporate conference rooms at the headquarters [...]

Every year I gaze into my solar crystal ball and make ten educated guesses about the rooftop solar industry. Last year I was pretty lucky, getting 9 out of 10 right. [...]

Increased fixed costs with lower energy prices will make renewable energy and conservation investments less attractive Denver, CO, June 2, 2016 – Members of the public will have a chance to be heard June 9 and 16  at hearings on new rates that will affect everyone who pays an electric bill to Xcel Energy. The utility’s proposal would send price signals that discourage energy conservation and rooftop solar energy. Xcel Energy has mounted a massive PR campaign to convince Coloradans t [...]

Post Date: January 3, 2017 Job Title: Outside Solar Sales Consultant- Front Range, CO Location: Denver, Fort Collins, Colorado Springs Target Hire Date: Immediate To Apply: Please submit cover letter and resume to maggie.aey@ecomarksolar.com EcoMark Solar is a rapidly growing residential solar company based in Denver, CO. Our mission is to offer every homeowner in Colorado energy independence, financial independence, and a more environmentally responsible lifestyle through solar power. We are se [...]

Post Date: January 5, 2017 Job Title: Commercial Sales Associate Location:  Carbondale, CO Target Hire Date: Immediate To Apply: Please submit cover letter and resume to katharine@sunsensesolar.com Application Deadline: January 25, 2017 Primary responsibilities will be to support the Commercial Sales Department by implementing a targeted marketing strategy that will include customer pre-qualification, direct outreach, relationship building, event attendance and other peripheral duties pertainin [...]

In another shining example of renewable energy leadership, in 2016, Germany used more renewable electricity than ever before, receiving 32 percent of the gross amount of electricity consumed in the country from sun, wind and other renewable sources. The Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW) and the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW) arrived at this figure in an initial estimate in late 2016. If the projections are correct, more than 191 bi [...]

It seems counterintuitive, doesn’t it? If utilities are in the business of selling kilowatt-hours, then why would it make sense for them to help customers produce enough of their own kilowatt-hours that they don’t need to buy them from the utility anymore? Burlington, VT-based Green Mountain Power is testing a new program that it hopes will result in dollar and carbon-emission savings for both customers and itself. It’s Off-Grid package includes an energy efficiency audit in partnership wi [...]

Denver, CO, January 04, 2017 — Solar Power Colorado 2017 is shaping up as an invaluable exploration of the growing role of solar energy in a changing political landscape. While solar energy continues its record-breaking growth nationally and in Colorado, the sector faces major uncertainties as the new political order takes shape in Washington D.C., and the conference will be one of the first major professional gatherings of the year to examine what lies ahead. With the theme: Innovation: Maki [...]

Gov. John Hickenlooper has announced the appointment of Jeff Ackermann – executive director of the Colorado Energy Office (CEO) – and Wendy Moser of the telecommunications company Charter Communications to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC), part of the Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA). Ackermann will serve as chairman of the PUC. Both appointments are effective Jan. 9, 2017.  Learn More The post Governor Hickenlooper Appoints New PUC Commissioners appeared first [...]

A 2015 study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and IBM found that more accurate day-ahead predictions of solar energy generation levels would save ratepayers in California $5 million in avoided costs. Solar forecasts, which integrate weather patterns and solar production estimates to help grid managers predict how much solar energy will be produced across their system on a given day, allow utilities to better allocate resources and avoid the need to ramp up reserve power plants. But gr [...]

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in the Dec. 19 Federal Register published a notice that it is amending its regulations governing rights-of-way issued under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) and the Mineral Leasing Act (MLA). [...]

A transformation is happening in global energy markets that’s worth noting as 2016 comes to an end: Solar power, for the first time, is becoming the cheapest form of new electricity. [...]

The solar industry is large enough to seek U.S. Department of the Interior (Interior) regulatory relief, irrespective of any debate over climate change. The President-elect is skeptical of anthropogenic climate change. [...]

System designers have more options today than ever before when architecting solar systems. While this may seem like a great advantage, these options necessitate an ever growing number of decision points in the design process. [...]