SEIA Solar Blog
Through our blog, SEIA staff aim to informing policymakers, the media, and the American public about the benefits of solar energy for today’s economy. Scroll down for a running feed of our blog posts. For a complete archive of press releases, blogs and other news articles, click here.
Sponsor of Harmful Solar Bill in Kentucky Pulls the Plug
Investing in a Distributed Energy Resource Future
Utilities are beginning to advance significant grid upgrade investment proposals in order to incorporate distributed energy resources (DERs). As DERs become increasingly commonplace, we need to make sure we optimize the value of these resources and ensure that utility investments are both prudent and necessary. While some utility investments will be needed to enable high penetrations of DERs, in many cases the DERs themselves can improve the management of the distribution system and save ratepayers money by reducing traditional utility investments and grid modernization investments.
Clean Energy Jobs Are Powering America, Driving Innovation
Strength in Numbers: The Solar Workforce Continues Record-Setting Growth
The U.S. solar workforce is growing faster than ever, and that is made especially clear in The Solar Foundation’s 2016 National Solar Jobs Census, which shows the industry now employs more than 260,000 Americans.
NC Clean Energy Technology Center’s 50 States of Solar Report Shows Solar Policy Action Across the Country
The NC Clean Energy Technology Center (NCCETC) released the Q4 and annual review editions of its 50 States of Solar report on Tuesday, which showed that 47 states plus Washington D.C. made changes to solar policy in 2016. Last year was a year of record growth for the solar industry, which is particularly impressive given the policy uncertainty in many states around the country.
California Takes a Significant Step Toward Getting Time-of-Use Rates Right
Solar in the Southwest – In Two Desert States, Cautionary Tales Abound
Solar Industry Sees Largest Quarter Ever
Quarter after quarter, the solar industry grows more and more, but never like this. The solar industry just experienced its largest quarter ever with more than 4,143 MW of PV installed, according to SEIA & GTM Research’s Q4 Solar Market Insight report, which provides third quarter data. The booming utility-scale solar market accounted for roughly 70 percent of this growth, particularly in California, which became the first state to ever install more than 1 gigawatt of utility PV in a single quarter.
Illinois’ New & Improved RPS Means More Solar
The Illinois state legislature passed the Future Energy Jobs Bill (SB 2814) last week, which sets the state on a path to 25 percent renewables by 2025, including potentially thousands of megawatts of new solar.The Environmental Law & Policy Center estimates that this new renewable portfolio standard (RPS) will require more than 2,700 MW of new solar by 2030. This is a large step forward for Illinois, which currently has only 66 MW of installed solar and ranks 27th nationally for total capacity.
The Solar Industry Gives Thanks