REC Solar has signed an agreement to develop 1.7MW of solar power installations on federal facilities in California, Arizona and Nevada. Commissioned by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, the systems are scheduled for completion in early- to mid-2010. The 1.7MW will be spread over several locations: VA Medical Centers in Palo Alto, Fresno, Los Angeles, and Long Beach; and VA Medical Centers in Tucson, AZ and Reno, NV.

NRG Energy, via its wholly owned subsidiary NRG Solar LLC has bought the yet to be completed solar power plant in Blythe, California, from First Solar. The 21MW project occupies approximately 200 acres of land and is expected to be completed by the end of the year and is claimed to be the first and largest utility-scale PV project in California.

New Home Green Materials and Learning Center -- the California-based chain of green home improvement superstores, launching soon -- has established a collaborative relationship with ET Solar, provider of PV systems.

Solar Park Initiatives (SPI), wholly owned subsidiary of Solar Energy Initiatives (SEI), has signed a contract securing land for the design, construction and operation of a 100MW solar park in California. SPI will be responsible for providing engineering, permitting, construction, operations and maintenance as well as obtaining the financing for this solar park while SEI will procure the solar panels and balance of system for the project.

Satcon has been selected for the California Public Utilities Commission approved CalRENEW-1 installation located in Mendota, CA. This is the first utility-scale PV solar farm to be approved by the commission under the state's Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) program.

After much anticipation, the Solar Power International 2009 event begins. SPI is the largest business-to-business solar energy conference and expo in North America, held this year at the Anaheim Convention Center for three days from October 27 - 29. The event is presented by the Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA) and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed a law-enforced legislation to create a feed-in tariff designed for small solar-panel generators in the state. This type of incentive falls in line with its European counterparts, reports MarketWatch.

Governor Schwarzenegger has signed an Executive Order (EO) directing the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to adopt regulations increasing California's Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) to 33% by 2020. This news supports data recently released by iSuppli, which states that California is on track to more than double its power generated by solar panel installations in 2009.

Cylindrical CIGS thin-film PV module company, Solyndra will now begin production of the DOE part-funded Fab 2. This project has been much anticipated, as it is the first of its kind to receive U.S. Department of Energy funding under Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. 

The California Public Utilities Commission has published new documentation designed to significantly increase the amount of solar energy installed in the state. This incentive structure is based around the idea of a FiT, yet there are distinct differences.

New Zealand-based renewable energies company Meridian Energy has taken over Cleantech America, Inc., the utility-scale PV solar plant developer. The acquisition marks Meridian’s first venture into the solar power sector, having previously been mainly involved in wind and hydroelectric projects. Meridian will now manage the operation of Cleantech’s 5MW CalRENEW-1 solar facility in Mendota, CA.

Intersolar North America has continued to grow with this year’s San Francisco exhibition and conference. Between the Intersolar North America and SEMICON West events, there were 560 solar exhibitors and approximately 17,000 trade visitors—an 111% increase for Intersolar’s exhibitor count. Ninety countries were represented within the trade visitors and 23 within the exhibitors.

TÜV SÜD America Inc. has combined efforts with Renewable Energy Test Centre LLC (RETC)—a partnership that will speed up the certification process for renewable energy technologies.

Tessera Solar has won the opportunity to develop solar thermal power plants in Riverside County, California up to 500MW. Tessera plans to collaborate with Optiflex Properties & Development for the development and the financing of the power plants. Most would be set up on old landfills and undeveloped properties, using about 3,500 acres of land.

Feed-in tariff (FiT) policies are now implemented in more than 40 countries around the world and are cited as the primary reason for the success of the German and Spanish renewable energy markets. As a result of that success, FiT policy proposals are starting to crop up in several other areas around the world including a number of US states.

Adding to its ever-growing list of solar projects in California, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) has signed off on a 92MW solar thermal deal with Alpine SunTower, LLC, a subsidiary of NRG Energy, Inc. The project builds on eSolar and NRG’s existing collaborative agreement that saw the companies agree to bring around 500MW of solar thermal energy to the U.S.

One of the most ambitious solarpower projects in the U.S. received the regulatory greenlight Thursday from the California Public Utilities Commission. The commission voted unanimously to approve Southern California Edison’s plan to install scores of 1-2MW photovoltaic grid-connected systems on the rooftops of commercial buildings throughout the utility’s Southern California service area. Under the terms of the approved measure, SCE will own, install, operate, and maintain 250MW of PV panels in the next five years and will solicit bids from independent suppliers to deploy another 250MW. Together, the added solar capacity will provide enough electricity to meet the needs of up to 320,000 Southern California households.