Business

Dec 171 min read

Will Cheap Solar and Batteries Change Clean Tech Investing?

Listen to this week's Energy Show as we speak with Neal Dikeman on the changes happening with clean tech investing.

Jun 18, 20202 min read

New Normal as we Recover from the Corona Virus

Everyone is looking forward to a return to some degree of normalcy as we recover from the corona virus pandemic. But it is very hard to...

Oct 3, 20191 min read

Environmental Entrepreneurs - Bob Keefe

Entrepreneurs are the job engine in the United States. Many of the companies founded by today’s entrepreneurs have products or services...

Mar 7, 20171 min read

Future Rooftop Solar Costs - Getting to $2.50/watt

The solar industry is one of our most obvious success stories. Our industry directly employs 261,000 people. We generate energy that is...

Sep 5, 20166 min read

An Urgent Letter to the Solar Industry and our Customers from Jigar Shah and Barry Cinnamon

We don’t call it the “Solar Coaster” for nothing. U.S. solar installations will hit 16 GW in 2016. These solar installations are having a...

Oct 12, 20151 min read

Solar Installer Business Code

I typed the words “free solar” into Google and got 747,000,000 hits in half a second. We all know that solar systems are not free. But...

Sep 4, 20151 min read

Running A Successful Solar Business With Pamela Cargill

Running a successful solar business isn’t easy. Whether it’s a small local installer working on one system a week on neighborhood homes,...

May 18, 20142 min read

What is the Future of Solar Distribution

The most conspicuous driver of the residential solar industry’s growth has been large, national-scale solar installers. Their market...

Apr 21, 20141 min read

Larry Sherwood with Solar ABCs Talks About Safe Solar Equipment

It’s encouraging to see how much safer — and less expensive — solar equipment has become over the past dozen years. These improvements...

Feb 28, 20141 min read

Protecting Your Right to Go Solar

Your right to go solar and get full credit for the electricity you send back to the grid is threatened. Not just in California and...

Oct 12, 20131 min read

Solar Startups Are Hot Again

Solar start-ups are hot again — especially those that address the “downstream” part of the value chain: installer services, customer...

Jun 5, 20131 min read

Fundamental Utility Business Model Must Change

Great article in Forbes about net metering. I’ve come to the realization that the fundamental utility business model must change —...

Apr 17, 20132 min read

Financing your Rooftop Solar Power System in San Jose - Silicon Valley

Let’s face it, a rooftop solar power system isn’t cheap. But two recent developments have completely changed the economics for buying a...

Mar 31, 20132 min read

How Solar Works

Description of a Typical Solar System Solar power systems turn sunlight into electricity. Silicon wafers capture photons from sunlight...

Jul 5, 20122 min read

On the Road Towards Energy Independence

With all the bad press about the renewable energy industry, it’s easy to miss the fact that we are moving steadily down the road towards...

May 22, 20122 min read

Yesterday's Solar Eclipse – Tomorrow's Healthy Solar Industry

There was a solar eclipse yesterday. The kind in the sky where the moon partially obscures the sun. Not an eclipse of the Solar Industry....

Nov 12, 20082 min read

Supply Modules > Demand Modules

It’s Econ 101. Prices for solar modules will fall. But not smoothly…nor painlessly. Except for the highest efficiency suppliers...

Aug 10, 20072 min read

Record Utility Rates Make Solar Even More Cost Effective

Did anyone notice the juxtaposition of two utility news blurbs in the August 8th, 2007 Mercury News? Are we really that naive that we...

May 2, 20072 min read

Beware Before You Compare World Solar Markets

For the past few years I’ve been hearing about how efficient and less expensive it is to install solar power systems in Germany. Many...

Nov 14, 20061 min read

Open Letter to Solar Venture Capitalists

Ponder these four realities when you consider a new solar technology: Start your due diligence on a 10 year old roof. It is an extremely...