Category: solar panels

California Regulators Propose Reducing Incentives for Rooftop Solar

SACRAMENTO, Calif.—California regulators proposed major changes to the state’s booming residential solar industry Monday, including reducing the discounts homeowners with rooftop solar and storage systems get on their electric bills when they sell extra energy back to the power companies. California’s successful program to get more people to put solar panels on their homes has…


Edison’s New Rate Plans Increases Costs for Solar Panel Customers

As Southern California Edison (SCE) begins to roll out its new “time-of-use” plans to its residential customers, many solar panel owners are up in arms as their energy bills will not be as low as they used to be. For years, SCE operated on a tiered energy billing system, where customers—spanning across Orange, Los Angeles,…


Australia Leads With 3 Million Rooftop Solar Installations

Australia is a world-leading country when it comes to rooftop solar uptake, with more than 3 million small-scale solar system installations, covering over one in four homes and non-residential buildings. The proliferation of solar has been driven by government incentives, with Australians told they can save thousands of dollars under the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme—a…


Tackling Taboos: Vaccine Creator on Safety; Pandemic Top-Down Decision-Making; Solar’s Dark Future

The drive to vaccinate the nation has been going strong for over six months, but there’s still a lot we don’t know—and may never know. That’s because key safety data is not being rigorously collected, says a man who should know: Dr. Robert Malone, the inventor of mRNA technology. In America Q&A, we ask Californians…


Forced Uyghur Labor Behind World’s Solar Panels, Investigation Finds

British researchers say the world’s production of solar panels is being fueled by forced labor from Uyghur Muslims in the Chinese province of Xinjiang. An investigation by Sheffield Hallam University says some 45 percent of the world’s supply of a key component in the panels—polysilicon—comes from Xinjiang and is obtained through a vast system of…


Filipino Student Creates Solar Panels From Waste Food, Wins James Dyson Award for Sustainability

Every year, students compete to win the James Dyson Sustainability Award. The contest has produced remarkable, innovative inventions, from bionic hands to the O-Wind turbine and single-use plastic alternatives. This year, a Filipino engineering student has caught international attention for his ingenious method of turning food waste into eye-catching decorative solar panels. Twenty-seven-year-old Carvey Ehren…