The U.S. solar energy industry installed a record 1,855 megawatts (MW) of photovoltaic (PV) capacity in 2011, more than doubling the previous annual record of 887 MW set in 2010, according to the latest U.S. Solar Market Insight report. The record amount of solar installations is enough to power more than 370,000 homes, and represents a 109 percent growth rate in 2011.

Rhone Resch, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association, released the following statement in reaction to Senator Jeff Bingaman's (D-NM) proposal for a clean energy standard (CES).

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and the Large-scale Solar Association (LSA) submitted comments on the Supplemental Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for solar energy development in Southwestern states. The draft PEIS was issued by the Bureau of Land Management in the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Rhone Resch, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association released the following statement today in response to President Obama’s State of the Union Address to Congress.

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), the national trade association for the solar energy industry, announced today that it has officially merged with the Solar Alliance, an advocacy organization committed to establishing solar policies at the state level. Effective immediately, the Solar Alliance will operate under the SEIA brand in an effort to present a unified solar industry voice in all advocacy efforts at the state level. Carrie Cullen Hitt, president of the Solar Alliance, is now Vice President for State Affairs at SEIA, and the Solar Alliance team joins Hitt as part of SEIA’s new department for State Affairs.

MIT Technology Review

The most efficient solar cells typically have several layers of semiconductor materials, each tuned to convert different colors of light into electricity. Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab have now made a single semiconductor that performs almost the same job. More importantly, they made the material using a common manufacturing technique, suggesting it could be made relatively inexpensively.

We are getting some initial results from California’s Renewable Auction Mechanism, a program for renewable energy projects under 20 MW in size.

California regulators have struck down a controversial charge that would increase fees for some solar customers in California

The Massachusetts DPU issued a net metering order promulgating legislation that revised the state’s net metering law

El Paso Electric proposed a rider last month that would impose a substantial penalty for solar-owning customers in its service territory