New reporting requirements for California utilities provide greater customer protection regarding the use of volt-watt, an important smart inverter function. Volt-watt is one of the “scariest” smart inverter functions for customers and developers, and this is a first of its kind customer-facing development for smart inverter regulatory issues from the only state that has fully...

Source: Greentech Media Driven by strong year-over-year growth in the utility and residential markets, the United States installed 1,330 megawatts of solar photovoltaics (PV) in the first quarter of 2014. According to GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association’s  Q1 2014 U.S. Solar Market Insight report, the U.S. installed 232 megawatts of residential PV, exceeding the...

Source: Pacific Business News A new program that is designed to make the installation of rooftop solar energy systems more affordable and accessible to underserved residents in Hawaii, including low- and moderate-income homeowners, renters and nonprofits, has kicked off with $50 million in funds being made available for the initiative, bringing the total amount of program funding...

Source: IREC As a result of the Governor’s failure to sign or veto the bill, the Value of Solar study bill (S.P. 644) was automatically enacted on April 11th. Most significantly, the bill directs the PUC to construct a report by February 15, 2015 on the value of distributed solar energy generation in Maine using the method consistent with published guidance from the Interstate Renewable...

The largest U.S. electric company wants to pay North Carolina shops and homeowners less for solar power they generate by changing a pricing rule that was designed to spur production of the power, a Duke Energy vice president said Thursday.