Solar shingles, also called photovoltaic shingles, are solar panels designed to look like and function as conventional roofing materials, such as asphalt shingle or slate, while also producing electricity. Solar shingles are a type of solar energy solution known as building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV).
Solar power in Australia is a fast growing industry. As of June 2022, Australia's over 3.19 million solar PV installations had a combined capacity of 27,167 MW photovoltaic (PV) solar power, of which at least 3,271 MW were installed in the preceding 12 months. In 2019, 59 solar PV projects with a combined capacity of 2,881 MW were either under construction, constructed or due to start construction having reached financial closure. Solar accounted for 9.9% of Australia's total electrical energy production in 2020.
The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is an office within the United States Department of Energy. Formed from other energy agencies after the 1973 energy crisis, EERE is led by the Assistant Secretary of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, who is appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Kelly Speakes-Backman was appointed Acting Assistant Secretary in January 2021.
According to preliminary data from the US Energy Information Administration, renewable energy accounted for about 12.6% of total primary energy consumption and about 19.8% of the domestically produced electricity in the United States in 2020.
A feed-in tariff is a policy mechanism designed to accelerate investment in renewable energy technologies by offering long-term contracts to renewable energy producers. This means promising renewable energy producers an above market price and providing price certainty and long-term contracts that help finance renewable energy investments. Typically, FITs award different prices to different sources of renewable energy in order to encourage development of one technology over another. For example, technologies such as wind power and solar PV are awarded a higher price per kWh than tidal power. FITs often include a "degression": a gradual decrease of the price or tariff in order to follow and encourage technological cost reductions.
Solar power includes utility-scale power plants as well as local distributed generation, mostly from rooftop photovoltaics and increasingly from community solar arrays. From January through December 2021, utility-scale solar power generated 114.7 terawatt-hours (TWh), or 2.79% of all generated electrical energy in the United States. During the same time period total solar generation, including estimated small-scale photovoltaic generation, was 163.7 TWh.
A photovoltaic system, also PV system or solar power system, is an electric power system designed to supply usable solar power by means of photovoltaics. It consists of an arrangement of several components, including solar panels to absorb and convert sunlight into electricity, a solar inverter to convert the output from direct to alternating current, as well as mounting, cabling, and other electrical accessories to set up a working system. It may also use a solar tracking system to improve the system's overall performance and include an integrated battery.
SolarCity Corporation was a publicly traded company headquartered in Fremont, California that sold and installed solar energy generation systems as well as other related products and services to residential, commercial, and industrial customers. The company was founded on July 4, 2006, by Peter and Lyndon Rive, the cousins of SpaceX and Tesla, Inc. CEO Elon Musk, and nephews of model Maye Musk. Tesla acquired SolarCity in 2016, at a cost of approximately $2.6 billion and reorganized its solar business into Tesla Energy.
Sunrun is an American provider of photovoltaic solar energy generation systems and battery energy storage products, primarily for residential customers. The company was established in 2007 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.
Solar power in California includes utility-scale solar power plants as well as local distributed generation, mostly from rooftop photovoltaics. It has been growing rapidly because of high insolation, community support, declining solar costs, and a Renewable Portfolio Standard which requires that 33% of California's electricity come from renewable resources by 2020, and 60% by 2030. Much of this is expected to come from solar power via photovoltaic facilities or concentrated solar power facilities.
Sunlight Solar Energy is an American national solar power company, headquartered in Bend, Oregon, that specializing in the design, finance, installation, and management of commercial and residential solar electric, solar hot water, solar pool, and radiant floor systems. Sunlight Solar was founded in 1988 by Paul Israel, a graduate of Temple University and co-founder of the Central Oregon Green and Solar Tour. The company opened its first location in Redmond, Oregon in 1997 and began installing solar for RV's, solar hot water, and off-grid solar electric systems. In 2003 the company moved operations to Bend, Oregon where the office's 3.6 Kilowatt photovoltaic system is monitored by Frank Vignola of the University of Oregon Solar Radiation Monitoring Lab which helped the Energy Trust of Oregon and Christopher Dymond of the Oregon Department of Energy calculate performance expectations for solar power production in Central Oregon. In 2004 a state solar incentive program encouraged the company's expansion of operations to Milford, Connecticut. In 2006 they became a premier dealer for SunPower photovoltaic panels. In 2008 Sunlight Solar was awarded Sunpower's "Intelegant" award for excellence. In 2008 Sunlight Solar won the Central Oregon Builder's Association award for "Sub-Contractor of the Year". In 2009 the company expanded to Waltham, Massachusetts. In 2010 the company opened an office in Portland, Oregon. In 2010 Sunlight Solar partnered with Habitat for Humanity to install 25 photovoltaic systems on new production high performance homes.
PACE financing is a means used in the United States of America of financing energy efficiency upgrades, disaster resiliency improvements, water conservation measures, or renewable energy installations of residential, commercial, and industrial property owners. Depending on state legislation, PACE financing can be used to finance building envelope energy efficiency improvements such as insulation and air sealing, cool roofs, water efficiency products, seismic retrofits, and hurricane preparedness measures. In some states, commercial PACE financing can also fund a portion of new construction projects, as long as the building owner agrees to build the new structure to exceed the local energy code.
A community solar project, farm or garden is a solar power installation that accepts capital from and provides output credit and tax benefits to multiple customers, including individuals, businesses, nonprofits, and other investors. Participants typically invest in or subscribe to a certain kW capacity or kWh generation of remote, electrical production. The project's power output is credited to investors or subscribers in proportion to their investment, with adjustments to reflect ongoing changes in capacity, technology, costs and electricity rates. Community solar provides direct access to the renewable energy to customers who cannot install it themselves. Companies, cooperatives, governments or non-profits operate the systems.
Sunetric is a Hawaii-based photovoltaic solar power company that performs consultation, design, and installation of photovoltaic systems for residential, commercial, military, and non-profit customers. Sunetric operates on all of the Hawaiian islands and in several states in the continental US. The company was founded in 2004 as Suntech Hawaii by Sean Mullen. Alex Tiller is the company's CEO. The company handles system consulting, design, and installation, and remains responsible for maintenance, monitoring, and repairs.
SVTC Technologies was a technology services company that provided development and commercialization services for semiconductor process-based technologies and products. SVTC operated from 2004 to October 2012.
Mosaic is a clean energy fin-tech company based in Oakland, California. Founded in 2010, Mosaic created its initial business model using crowdfunding principals to offer loans for commercial solar development projects. After shifting its model in 2014, Mosaic Inc. is now focused on financing residential solar projects by leveraging third party capital partners. Through this model, the company aims to democratize the social and environmental benefits of clean energy.
Tesla Energy is the clean energy subsidiary of Tesla, Inc. that develops, manufactures, sells and installs photovoltaic solar energy generation systems, battery energy storage products, as well as other related products and services to residential, commercial and industrial customers.
Spruce Finance, headquartered in San Francisco, California is a consumer finance company specializing in the residential solar finance and efficiency home improvement sectors in the U.S. The company was founded in 2015 when Clean Power Finance merged with Kilowatt Financial and is led by CEO Nat Kreamer, co-founder of Sunrun.
The SunShot Initiative is a federal government program run by the US Department of Energy's Solar Energy Technologies Office. It bills itself as a national effort to support solar energy adoption in order to make solar energy affordable for all Americans. The initiative is a collaboration of private companies, universities, state and local governments, and nonprofits, as well as national laboratories.
Net metering in New Mexico is a set of state public policies that govern the relationship between solar customers and electric utility companies.
