SolarWakeup Live!: By Yann Brandt In this episode I speak with Dave Rosenfeld of the Solar Rights Alliance about the bipartisan legislation that was filed in California last week, the Solar Bill of Rights. The bill is California focused legislation but the story rings true across the Country, consumers deserve the opportunity to go solar without obstruction from the electric monopolies putting barriers in the way. Dave runs the Solar Rights Alliance which brings together solar consumers and creates the response mechanism to help the solar industry push politics forward. Much like the NRA, SRA members join (for free) when … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent After the DC City Council passed its groundbreaking clean energy resolution on Tuesday, reaction came in fast and furious. One of those people who reacted was New Columbia CEO Mike Healy, whose company works strictly within the district and is heavily invested in solar development in the city. We thought he’d be the perfect person to weigh in on the resolution, which now goes to Mayor Muriel Bowser for her signature and then on to Congress and the President for approval. Here’s what he had to say on the historic passage. SolarWakeup: What is the … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent Leading clean energy developer Community Energy announced the approval of a 70-megawatt (MW) solar Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) in Adams County, Pennsylvania to power government facilities in Philadelphia. The solar farm, named Adams Solar LLC, will produce enough electricity to operate 22 percent of Philadelphia government buildings by 2020. The project is the largest in Pennsylvania by sevenfold, and a significant step toward the City’s clean energy goal of sourcing 100 percent of its electricity from renewables by 2030 [wds id=”3″] Adams Solar LLC will sell 100 percent of its power under a 20-year contract … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent Freedom Forever, one of America’s fastest growing solar power companies, announced today that the company has doubled its revenues in 2018 from $55 million to $110 million. Freedom Forever has established itself as one of the home solar industry’s most dynamic forces – and is poised for continued growth and expansion in 2019 and beyond. “At the core of Freedom Forever’s business model is the fundamental belief that our customers come first. Our ongoing success is a direct result of the consumer-driven, service-oriented approach we follow, which is designed to make renewable energy an attractive … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent As North Carolina climbed the list of best solar states in the country, the growth was often attributed to utility-scale solar installations. But Duke Energy wants to remind you that it’s also provides nearly $6 million in solar rebates to 1,300 residential and commercial distributed generation customers, too. And the new window for getting solar rebates for next year opens on January 2. The Duke Energy solar rebate program is one of many customer programs the company is implementing as part of the Competitive Energy Solutions for North Carolina law passed in 2017. The rebates … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent As community solar continues to streak across the solar sky as the hottest segment in the industry, the questions are twofold: Why is it the hottest segment, and what are the keys to getting deals done. Scott Wiater, president and CEO of Standard Solar, a national solar company that has recently done community solar deals in New York and Colorado, agreed to answer those questions – and offer advice to anyone trying to launch community solar programs in new areas. SolarWakeup: Why is community solar one of the fastest-growing segments of the solar industry? Scott … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent When New York announces clean energy goals, they do it in the only way the Empire State knows how to do anything: They do it big. So it was when Governor Andrew Cuomo announced his latest bid to reclaim New York’s leadership in the clean energy push that’s sweeping through the Northeast, calling for 3 GW of energy storage to be added to the state’s grid by 2030. “As the federal government continues to ignore the real and imminent dangers of climate change, New York is aggressively pursuing clean energy alternatives to protect our environment … Read More →

The Energy Show: By Barry Cinnamon Attention U.S. Department of Commerce: your well-intentioned efforts to help the U.S. solar panel manufacturing industry are not working. Even with 30%+ tariffs on imported solar panels and cells, the remaining U.S. manufacturers are struggling to stay competitive. The good news, as one would expect, is that there is strong demand for Made in the U.S.A. solar panels – both from ordinary consumers as well as government purchases. However, structural issues with the supply chain for solar components puts the remaining U.S. manufacturers at a substantial disadvantage. The reasons for these supply chain challenges … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent Ah. There it is. After escaping several quarters largely unscathed by the insane Trump tariffs on solar, the Solar Energy Industries Association and Woods Mackenzie report that the third quarter of 2018 saw the 30% tariffs take a bite out of the utility-scale sector. Though not unexpected, the slowdown hurt solar’s overall growth numbers and has Woods Mackenzie analysts predicting that 2018 will finish flat with year on year growth. If most of us are being honest, we consider the solar industry a bit lucky that it hadn’t already felt the bite of the tariffs, … Read More →

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent Illinois is one of the hottest solar markets in the country, thanks in part to the Future Energy Act of 2016. Solar companies are flooding into the state, and many cities are clamoring to be part of the Solar Revolution in the state. And now at least one city has decided to take its devotion to clean energy that extra step by pledging to become the 102nd city in the United States – and the first in Illinois – to generate 100% of its electricity from renewable sources. [wds id=”3″] Yesterday, the Evanston City Council … Read More →