The Maryland Energy Administration (MEA) recently increased funding to $1.45 million for a solar-energy incentive program for commercial buildings.

Suntech Power Finishes Solar Installation at Harrah's

Suntech Power Holdings announced it completed a 1 megawatt solar power installation at Harrah’s Rincon Casino in Southern California. The project consists of 4,000 solar panels on five-and-a-half acres of land and will provide almost 90 percent of the power needed to run the casino’s HVAC system. The casino-hotel contains 662 rooms.

Colorado’s Advanced Energy Buys PV Powered

In a deal worth up to $90 million in cash and stock, Advanced Energy Industries bought Oregon-based PV Powered, a company that makes inverters, an essential part of solar power systems. According to OregonLive.com, Advanced Energy also sells inverters, which convert the direct current (DC) electricity generated by solar panels into the alternating current (AC) power usable by households and other customers on the electrical grid. Advanced Energy sells to large commercial and industrial users, while PV Powered targets residential and small commercial solar customers.

Early this week, Colorado Governor Bill Ritter signed a bill into law setting a new Renewable Energy Standard that requires the state to get 30 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020.

Massachusetts is on a roll when it comes to solar: The solar electric market there has experienced triple-digit growth for two straight years!

The outlook for solar power in California just got sunnier. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation February 26 that raises the cap on the amount of customer-generated solar power utilities must reimburse through net-metering credits. Net-metering allows homes and businesses to receive credits if they generate more solar power than they can use. In effect, the customer sells the excess power to the electric grid and gets credit for it.

Updated March 22: The revamped SolarGenerations incentive program being run by NV Energy will now start taking applications April 21 at 12 p.m. PT. NV Energy moved the date back from March 24 in order to provide a better opportunity for customers to submit a more complete application.

The orders are piling up for at least one solar installer in Allentown, Pa., all because of snow on the rooftops. His company can’t put up solar panels until all that white stuff from the Blizzard of 2010 melts.

This week 32 solar powered cars from 17 countries have converged on Australia's outback to compete for the title of World Solar Car Champion. The race, the "World Solar Challenge" takes place every two years - giving teams ample time to raise money, design, build and test their dream vehicles. It's a unique event and there are 5 reasons to love every part of it.

If there ever was an event for our time, it is the Solar Decathlon (original post w/video) on the National Mall in Washington DC, the fourth one of which just concluded. Begun in 2002, with support from the U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE), The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and BP Solar, the Solar Decathlon brings together 20 universities from the U.S., and some from overseas, to erect innovative, full sized, green, solar powered, energy efficient homes in a "solar town" on the expanse of grass in front of the Nation's Capitol.