Over in the Palmetto State, solar panel inquiries are at an all-time high, due to rising electricity costs, according to local solar installers. One man just installed a 14.1-kilowatt system, the largest residential solar energy system in the state.

This past spring, 12 solar panels installed last year atop the Ypsilanti, Michigan, City Hall were wired to the building and began generating electricity. A group of volunteers from the Ypsilanti Food Co-operative and SolarYpsi installed the panels. They had won state grants to put solar panel on the Food Co-op, City Hall and the Co-op’s River Street Bakery.

Homeowners are starting to go solar in the Quad Cities area encompassing parts of Illinois and Iowa across the Mississippi River from each other.

While oil continues to gush out of BP’s busted well in the Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana legislators are pushing at least three bills to help renewable energy, including solar power.

The CEO of a digital media firm in Upper Arlington, Ohio, always thought about going solar, but it wasn’t until recently that it made economic sense.

This week the Garden State launched Funding Cycle 2 of its Renewable Energy Incentive Program. The initiative offers incentives--in the form of rebates--for solar electric/photovoltaic, wind and sustainable biomass systems for residential, non-residential and newly constructed buildings.

Corporations and government agencies seem to be competing to see who can host the largest solar power system in Tennessee. In the latest case of one-upsmanship, Nashville’s Metro Housing and Development Authority put up solar panels with a total capacity just a bit greater than the solar system atop a shopping mall in Hendersonville.

Pokeberries Prove to Be Valuable in Solar Panel Production

Scientists at Wake Forest University have discovered that pokeberry dye can improve the efficiency of some solar cells. When applied to fiber-based solar cells, the berry's dye acts as an absorber, helping the cell's fibers capture more sunlight to convert into power. Fiber-based solar cells can produce twice as much power as current flat-cell technology and are less expensive to produce. Civil War soldiers used juice from the weeds to write letters home, reports UPI.com.

Solar Power Heats Up in Midwest as Costs Drop, Electricity Rates Rise

The Midwest gets plenty of sunshine—some towns see as much sun as Miami and San Antonio—and the big cost considerations that for years have held back solar power in the region have changed, according to a story in the Kansas City Star. Solar-panel prices have plunged and tax rebates and credits have now cut the payback time for solar power from 25 years to 10 years. As a result, more businesses and homeowners are installing solar photovoltaic panels in Kansas City.

A Vermont clean energy board announced April 21 that the state government has made available $5.5 million to support the installation of solar and small wind projects at homes and businesses in the state.