Solar Blog: August 2015

Last year, California added nearly 7,500 new solar energy jobs, with another 10,000 expected for 2015, according to The Solar Foundation's California Solar Jobs Census.

Though it was the last state to join the Union, Hawaii is making a push to be the first state to use 100 percent renewable energy.  Earlier this summer, Gov. David Ige signed a bill into law that set Hawaii's renewable energy goal at 100 percent by 2045.

Residential solar panels can boost the value of your home by an average of $15,000, according to research commissioned by the Department of Energy.

Southern California could soon be home to one of the largest solar power plants in the world, thanks to a plan the federal government approved on August 24.

Recently the White House announced that there will be wide array of executive actions that will boost renewable energy and energy efficient programs and even encourage investments in these ventures. The Hill reports that more than $1 billion will be awarded in new loan guarantees.

If California was its own country it would now rank sixth in the world in solar generation, according to the latest U.S. Solar Market Insight Report.

West Texas's oil fields will soon become home to about $1 billion worth of solar-energy farms, according to The Wall Street Journal. Pecos County, covering the southern edge of the Permian Basin oil field about halfway between San Antonio and El Paso, is the perfect location for solar farms.

Recent California Department of Education data shows that over 4,000 students did not finish their high school degree in San Bernardino County. Business Wire reports that the county came in behind many other regions of the state in regards to graduation rates.

California is on track to lower greenhouse gas emissions by becoming more reliant on renewable energy sources. Thankfully, the state legislature is taking steps to directly address the country's dependence on fossil fuels, while working to bring cleaner energy solutions to Californians as a whole.

Since the 1970s, energy efficiency in California has saved Californians $90 billion on their utility bills, created hundreds of thousands of efficiency jobs and will have avoided the pollution from at least 30 power plants, according to a new report.