Solar energy advocates have long been conscious of an image problem: That they're a bunch of middle-to-upper class liberal white people in places like Mount Pleasant and Capitol Hill, taking thousands of dollars in city and federal money to put solar panels on their roofs. Even though rebates help and the systems pay themselves off [...]

Over the past year, this blog has chronicled the rise of Skyline Innovations, a two-year-old startup that came up with a way to build solar water heating systems on rooftops at no cost to the building's inhabitants, while providing them with cheaper electricity—a model that's won them award after award. First, the firm moved from [...]

Remember that whole brouhaha about the Solar Decathlon needing to move off the National Mall in order to preserve the grass? It ended up in West Potomac Park in late September, which seemed to mollify participants, who feared having to shlep to National Harbor. Next year, however, the Department of Energy is inviting bids for [...]

Remember those 51 people who were told they wouldn't be getting the rebates on solar systems they'd been promised? The Council just passed emergency legislation to put that money back into the Renewable Energy Incentive Program, delivering $13,000 per homeowner on average.
The downside of the reprogramming: That $700,000 came not from the general fund, but [...]

Trying to pin down funding for solar energy in the District is like wrestling a slippery fish: You think you have it, and then it jumps out of your hands again, forcing another round of pursuit.
Along with incentives from the federal government, a $3-per-kilowatt subsidy has brought rooftop solar energy systems within the reach of [...]

At a large, brick house on Reno Road NW last Friday afternoon,  casual passersby would have been forgiven for thinking a baby shower was underway. Smiling attendants in sky blue polos welcomed guests to a yard with tables full of refreshments, as a photographer snapped away. Inside, neighbors flocked to congratulate a visibly pregnant woman, [...]

Catholic University of America is not known for its forward-thinking attitudes in some areas. But at least the school's taking a bold approach to solar power!
Catholic announced this morning that it is installing 1,000 solar panels total on four buildings across its Brookland campus. The panels will apparently be installed at no cost to CUA, [...]