UPDATE – GOVERNOR BROWN SIGNED ALL 4 BILLS. Click here to read the chartered bills: Assembly Bill 327, Assembly Bill 43, Assembly Bill 217, and Assembly Bill 792 Four California solar-related bills were enrolled on September 11 and 12, and await Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr.’s signature. This legislation would,…
The United Kingdom’s Solar Trade Association (STA) recently published guidance on the 10 best practices for solar development, guidance its members have committed to follow in building and managing solar farms. The guidance sets forth STA’s views on the best practices for siting, land use and community engagement: 1. Focus…
The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) program recently embarked on an effort to produce and release to the public work-place safety videos. Its second is a four-minute video that tells the tragic story of a solar panel installer’s 45-foot fall from the roof…
SolarPermit.org, a website developed by SunShot awardee Clean Power Finance and supported by a Department of Energy grant, “organizes and simplifies the solar permitting process by compiling permitting information in a single location.” The newly redesigned website hosts the National Solar Permitting Database, a free, online database of solar permitting…
The U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management (BLM), as part of the Solar Energy Program, recently approved the establishment of a new Renewable Energy Evaluation Area (REEA) in California’s Imperial Valley. The West Chocolate Mountains REEA creates a new Solar Energy Zone (SEZ), which is part of…
Solar Decathlon China, the most recent addition to the international family of Solar Decathlon competitions, commenced on August 2, 2013 and ended today. It was hosted by the National Energy Administration and the U.S. Department of Energy, organized by Peking University, and supported by private companies. Final awards are posted:…
Ygrene Energy Fund and Johnson Controls recently announced that they will help Seattle-based Metzler Real Estate cut energy use and utility bills at Sacramento’s Metro Center Corporate Park by $140,000 annually, a 27% decrease. The Metro Center facilities are located at 2700-2720 Gateway Oaks Drive and are comprised of 4…
In the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon, 20 collegiate teams compete to design, build, and operate solar-powered houses that are affordable, attractive, and easy to live in, maintains comfortable and healthy indoor environmental conditions, supplies energy to household appliances for cooking, cleaning, and entertainment, provides adequate hot water, and…
The Milwaukee Public Museum’s 8-story tower’s marble façade facing West Wells Street is being replaced with 234 solar panels. It was reported that, over the past 50 years, the Museum’s heavy marble façade on the south wall facing West Wells Street has weathered and become less stable. Milwaukee County, which…
UPDATE: Natural Resources Defense Council Staff Blog, Great News: NY Governor Cuomo Pledges $1 Billion For Solar (Jan. 8, 2014) On July 17, 2013, New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced that the State University of New York’s (SUNY) College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) will revitalize a vacant…