Energy jobs? U.S. citizens usually don’t give energy much thought… except as we might worry about the price of gasoline or the monthly electricity bill. Yes, we might also fret a little as we think about how fossil fuels contribute to the growing burden of climate change. A Shift in Perspective There is so much more to the energy-jobs story than is generally understood. This is especially true as engineers, materials scientists, and even energy and resource economists are coming up with new critical insights on how energy shapes our larger social and economic wellbeing, as well as the climate ..read more

Last fall, Solar Today readers learned about rising opposition to large-scale renewable energy development in communities nationwide. Author Joel Stronberg mentioned groups like the Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions and Citizens for Clear Skies, whose names belie campaigns that promote misinformation and dismiss urgent clean energy goals.1 Stronberg cited a 2023 study from the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law that cataloged nearly 300 renewable energy projects across 45 states that experienced serious organized opposition between March of 2022 and May of 2023 — a 40% increase in such proje ..read more

There are a lot of great solar installers in the industry who provide reliable products to build affordable arrays with quality and skill. However, from time to time, we hear reports of the ‘other guys’ – the companies that are in it to make a quick buck and move on to the next sale. Warranty service or Operations & Maintenance? These may be lacking or nonexistent. Solar arrays that miss the energy production estimates by a significant margin? These can leave well-intentioned array owners with a bad experience. While this is not the norm, we want to caution would-be solar-array owners and ..read more

Against the backdrop of the vast Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, where the winds whisper stories of resilience and the land echoes the trials and triumphs of a community, a beacon of hope emerges in the form of the Red Cloud Renewable energy center. Nestled within this expansive landscape, this center stands not merely as a collection of solar panels and structures, but as a testament to the unwavering determination of the Oglala Lakota people toward self-sufficiency and progress. In the shadow of historical challenges, the presence of Red Cloud Renewable on Pine Ridge Indian Re ..read more

In the first three quarters of 2023, the installation of residential solar power saw another surge, with growth of 24% year-over-year, according to Wood Mackenzie. Total expected growth for the year was 13%.1 This is on top of 2022 results in which 700,000 United States homeowners embraced the technology.2 Growth is expected to slow in 2024 to 12%, with recovery expected in 2025. The residential storage market is now experiencing significant expansion, driven by a confluence of factors making battery storage increasingly appealing to homeowners incorporating PV systems. Residential Energy Stor ..read more

Why is it so hard to convince others to change? Moving people from thought to action can prove extremely difficult even when the benefits of behavioral adoption are made clear and are an obvious improvement to personal, social and environmental systems.  We tend to believe that with enough information about the benefits, behavioral change will naturally follow. This approach is known as “information deficit.”1 Sadly, it isn’t overly effective. Neither is the loss-communication approach of the environmental movement with messages like “take shorter showers,” “drive less” or “waste less.” E ..read more

Overreliance on artificial intelligence tools and chatbots like ChatGPT, Bard, Dall-E and others is a losing game. But that doesn’t mean solar companies should turn their backs on this new technology. Solar companies are all about embracing emerging tech, right? Energy Circle, the digital marketing company where I work, focuses exclusively on contractors, businesses and organizations in the clean energy and energy efficiency sectors. We’ve been experimenting heavily with AI tools since 2022. We’ve always operated under the guiding principle that great marketing requires real-world expertise an ..read more

Renewable energy adoption around the world is picking up speed, fueled by maturing technology, massive federal incentives and increasing cost-competitiveness with fossil energy. Still, renewables make up only ~27% of the energy generated across the United States.1 A key factor slowing down progress is a lack of clear, coherent communication. Renewable technology and the policy surrounding it are complex subjects to begin with. And the discourse on these topics is riddled with jargon and acronyms. Take the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), for example: The policy signed into law by President Joe B ..read more

Often, companies seek public relations services with the goal of securing top-tier national news coverage — the desire to see their names in lights. But many cleantech B2B companies’ news revolves around commercial announcements with no clear tie-in to broader market trends that merit national coverage. Your ability to earn media coverage depends on several factors. In the public relations profession, the pre-internet term was “newsworthiness.” At our firm, we call it “attention-worthiness.” The important lesson I want to share is: The bar for newsworthiness has gotten much higher. If you want ..read more

In Kakuma Refugee Camp, Grace* is preparing dinner for her family. The smell of spices hangs in the air; the tomato stew and rice are nearly done. What makes tonight’s meal special is not the menu but how it’s made. This is the first meal Grace is cooking without burning charcoal or wood, instead using nothing but the sun and her brand-new solar thermal cooker. A solar cooker absorbs sunlight and transforms it into thermal energy, generating the temperatures necessary to cook meals, pasteurize water and dehydrate food. There are myriad models, most of which use shiny or reflective surfaces to ..read more