solar power
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8 bright ideas for a cleaner future
Check out the awesome finalists from OpenIDEO's Renewable Energy Challenge.
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A plan to get solar headed in the right direction — literally
It’s OK to discriminate on orientation when it comes to solar panels. West is best.
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The high cost of the solar middleman
If there’s no such thing as a free lunch, then how can Americans get solar on their roof with “zero money down” and lower their electric bill? Solar leasing, as it’s often called, is a clever market solution to poor federal and state policy design that otherwise requires Americans to do financial acrobatics to power […]
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How to Phase Out Incentives and Grow Solar Energy
Over the next decade, solar electricity will let consumers get cheaper energy from their rooftop than from their utility. Among the upheaval in the electricity system, the coming of solar “grid parity” means re-thinking incentives for solar energy. The success of solar is remarkable, no less because the amount of federal subsidy in absolute terms […]
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Can a Fair Price for Solar Energy Win Over Utilities?
In March 2014, Minnesota became the first state to adopt a “value of solar” policy to set a fair, transparent price on solar energy. It may serve as a national precedent and fundamentally change the financial relationship between electric utilities and their energy-producing customers. So what will value of solar mean for utility customers producing […]
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Enabling more Democratic Energy
From outdated technical rules to local permitting to incentive policies, there are opportunities to increase the potential for local solar power. This is the fourth of five parts of ILSR’s Rooftop Revolution report being published in serial. Read Part 1 or Part 2 or Part 3. Download the entire report and see our other resources […]
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Buying Local Solar Makes Florida City a World Leader
“It’s the only time I’ve done a rate increase when nobody was opposed,” says Ed Regan of the Gainesville utility’s feed-in tariff for solar power. The program, launched in 2009, has resulted in nearly 15 megawatts of new, local solar energy generation on or near buildings in the northeast Florida town, enough to make […]
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These teeny, sparkly sequins are actually functional solar cells
They're just as efficient as normal solar cells, all while using one hundredth of the material that normal solar cells would.
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This bonsai-shaped solar charger is one of the cutest gadgets we’ve seen
Unlike many solar gadgets, it's an object you might actually want in your house. And it can more than handle all your wireless charging needs.