Americas

Minnesota made significant strides in strengthening its solar crediting policies last week, as the state’s Public Utilities Commission (PUC) approved the nation’s first statewide methodology for calculating the value of consumer-generated solar energy.

Legislation that campaigners said would have harmed solar net metering and "monopolised" solar system leasing has been rejected in Washington State.

The US and China are close to opening formal negotiations based on the Solar Energy Industries Association’s (SEIA) draft settlement of the ongoing solar trade dispute between the two countries, according to officials from both sides.

Portuguese PV developer Martifer Solar has set its sights on new markets oversees by opening a new office in El Salvador.

PV developer OCI Solar Power’s 4.4MW Texas solar farm, Alamo 2, has officially begun generating power, officials say.

PV developers Gestamp Solar and 8minutenergy Renewables are planning to jointly build a 50MW solar farm in California.

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) announced its support for new legislation presented in the Massachusetts State Senate and House of Representatives that would permit public and private distributed generation (DG) projects to continue, while also expanding the solar energy industry across the state.

The general director of Mexico’s state-owned electric utility, the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), has announced plans to promote renewable energy generation in the country by forming strategic public-private partnerships.

Solar power production in California hit a new record on 8 March 2014, as output peaked at 4,093MW.

Flexible CIGS thin-film firm, Ascent Solar surpassed US$1 million in annual revenue for the second time since it started operations in 2005.