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French oil giant Total going big on solar energy

Jan 19, 2021
It's one of a number of growing examples of oil companies adjusting to changing energy needs.
Above, photovoltaic solar panels at the power plant in La Colle des Mees, Alpes de Haute Provence, in southeastern France in 2019.
Gerard Julien/AFP via Getty Images

Tesla's plan for simple solar rentals could increase competition

Aug 20, 2019
The company has seen a drop in solar power installations. Is the new plan sustainable?
Tesla plans to rent solar panel systems to customers starting at $50 per month.
Tesla

Solar energy heats up despite tariffs

Mar 14, 2019
In 2018, the Trump administration imposed tariffs of 30 percent on imported solar panels and set quotas to limit solar imports. This caused a slump in the solar energy industry. But two new reports show that last year wasn’t as bad as the industry feared, and predicts a boom in new solar installations this year. […]
A solar farm under construction in Punta Gorda, Florida, on April 22, 2016.
KERRY SHERIDAN/AFP/Getty Images

With California requiring solar panels on new homes, higher building costs and lower energy bills

Dec 10, 2018
California has become the first state in the nation to require solar panels on most new homes starting in 2020.
California has become the first state to require solar panels on most new homes.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

California Energy Commission to vote on solar-required home building

May 9, 2018
The California Energy Commission is expected to vote today on a proposal that would make the state the first in the country to require new homes be built with solar panels. The proposal, which is expected to pass, would go into effect in 2020 and apply to most new residential buildings of up to three stories. […]

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Excess solar power in California? Pay Arizona to take it

Jun 9, 2016
As California's solar power production heats up, an unusual market has emerged.
Solar panels used to generate power outside an office building in Los Angeles, California.
MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images

Nevada makes rooftop solar less attractive

Jan 1, 2016
On the state's utility's urging, Nevada is raising a fee on solar owners and will pay much less for excess electricity they generate.