If you live in California, this is going to be easy. Californians already have a reputation for working to help out the environment (emissions laws are notorious, for example), and this next step seems like it fits in perfectly well: solar water heaters. […]
Yesterday was all about small-scale or medium-scale solar (in the US & UK) here on CleanTechnica. On the flip side, news today from Solarbuzz is that utility-scale photovoltaic solar is growing fast in North America and looking for its top year in 2012.
Joining the ranks of 5 countries other than the U.S. that have hit the 1 gigawatt solar milestone (Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan, and the Czech Republic), California has now installed its 1st gigawatt (or 1,000th megawatt) of rooftop solar installed. To put that into perspective, 1GW of solar can … [continued]
Last December California Solar Initiative (CSI) funding for non-profits ran out too soon. Schools, churches, and other non-profits were using up their utility rebates for solar too fast. This week, Democratic Governor Jerry Brown signed into law a bill that pumps additional money into the program.
The CSI program has resulted in nearly 1 GW of rooftop solar, employed over 36,000 people and leveraged $4.5 billion in private capital. There are now more solar roofs in California than four other nations worldwide.
These roofs will pump out solar power for about 40 years, with the latter
Solar in Los Angeles recently received another boost. After shutting down its solar incentive program in April, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the nation’s largest municipal utility, has announced that it will restart its solar incentive program once again.
Solar energy is more affordable now than ever. Reportedly, the cost of solar has even dropped below the cost of nuclear now. And, in the long term, of course, solar energy is a good investment that will eventually put more money in your pocket. But for a person or family … [continued]
