North America

Duke Energy Renewables has clinched another major solar acquisition in Texas, bringing its PV project count up to four in the Lone Star state.

Electrical engineer Aaswath Raman, at the University of California in LA, has come up with a device that can harness energy from a dark night sky to power an LED — hinting at a new frontier in renewable energy.

Solaria Corporation is to work towards a doubling of its panel manufacturing capabilities this year, a push financed by a new capital raise.

US solar players have scored a victory in Michigan this week after regulators ratified a deal to unblock a 584MW PV pipeline, held up by years of standoff with a utility.

174 Power Global has wrapped up construction financing for the US$210 million, 150MW first phase of its solar farm in Ector County, northwest Texas, clinching funding from a group of global banks.

The U.S. company claims its 300 MW manufacturing plant in Hyderabad will deliver fully integrated, customizable solar panel, lithium battery pack and controller systems under a single roof.

The US renewables business of Japanese oil and gas major Idemitsu Kosan has bought a 100MW solar project in Colorado from GCL New Energy, a subsidiary of China's GCL New Energy Holdings.

The classical Greek philosopher Socrates believed the ideal house should be warm in winter and cool in summer. With clarity of thought like that, it's easy to see how the great man got his reputation.

A Republican senator from Maine and a Democratic senator from New Mexico have introduced legislation that aims to slash costs and red tape currently complicating local permitting for distributed renewable energy, energy storage and electric vehicle (EV) charging systems.

Dutch rooftop solar mounting provider Esdec has acquired US mounting specialists IronRidge and Quick Mount PV, claiming the double acquisition gives it a dominant share of the US residential mounting market.

United States Senators Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced the American Energy Opportunity Act, which will provide voluntary assistance and tools for local governments to simplify, standardize and automate clean energy permitting for residents and businesses while enhancing safety.

RP Construction Services (RPCS) announced earlier this week the launch of a campaign to bring e-readers to the Secondary Education for Girls’ Advancement (SEGA) school in Morogoro, Tanzania, with the help of Nurturing Minds, a U.S.-based non-profit organization.

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law last week financial protections for consumer investments in rooftop solar energy. The law, AB 1208 authored by Assemblymember Phil Ting (D-San Francisco), extends a prohibition on cities and counties taxing the energy generated by rooftop solar panels for use by homeowners and businesses.

The economics guiding U.S. investments in electricity generation have reached a historic tipping point: combinations of solar, wind, storage, efficiency and demand response are now less expensive than most proposed gas power plant projects. According to a new report by Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), portfolios of these clean energy resources can provide the same energy and reliability services as traditional gas power plants — but cost less.

Lightsource BP has started construction of a 70MW trio of Pennsylvanian solar projects that will provide power to Penn State University.