SOLAR NEWS

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Local Problems, Local Solutions – Beauty of Solar

We’re pleased to announce that the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) has approved a $5,700 contract to help renovate our main campus in downtown Fort Lauderdale.  With this funding, we’ll be adding a rooftop teaching lab, new classroom, additional sidewalk, permeable parking lot, solar-powered street lighting, and a rain water capture cistern for our upcoming urban [...]

Solar Energy – Path to Net Positive Energy & Global Sustainability

When we installed nearly 100 photovoltaic panels on the rooftop of US Solar Institute’s Fort Lauderdale office, our goal was simple – to show the world how easy and affordable it was to harness free energy from the sun. The results exceeded even our wildest dreams.  These solar panels generate as many as 150 kilowatt-hours [...]

UL and US Solar Institute Partner for Electrical Code Training in June

Florida’s premier solar training school and internationally recognized safety science agency team up to provide exclusive certification course for electricians and PV installers. Fort Lauderdale, FL March 30, 2012 – From June 18 to 22 of this year, Florida-based US Solar Institute (USSI) will offer a joint solar PV installation course with Underwriters Laboratories (UL) [...]

Solar Industry Set Ablaze: Training and Certification Need Standards

Advanced Solar Training Certification Need Standards. To become a licensed masseuse or hairdresser in most states, you need professional training and certification.  But no such requirements exist for solar PV installers, despite the fact that they work with high voltage electrical equipment instead of split ends and shiatsu. This is not to say that training and certification [...]

Stealing Sunshine: Fraud in the PV Solar Industry

While it may be impossible to get ransom for rays of sunshine, fraud is becoming a more prevalent problem in the PV solar industry. Growth and the steady adoption of PV technology are great for solar business but for every positive opportunity there is a negative risk -electrical pun intended.  Smaller boutique style solar firms [...]

Solar Tax Incentives Set to Expire: Punishing Success with Cutbacks

 Although it is undeniable that solar energy will play an increasingly dominant role in the global energy mix, one can’t help but become frustrated when governments pass up opportunities to speed widespread adoption.  In a surprising move, the US Senate recently voted not to extend the Department of Treasury's Section 1603 program and a host [...]

What a US-China Solar War Means for Your Solar Installation Career

What a US-China Solar War Means for Your Installation Career A number of US solar manufacturing companies have brought suit against China for its “allegedly” illegal trade practices.  In a nutshell, these companies accuse China of underpricing its solar products to secure a global monopoly as other companies bow out of the PV manufacturing game. [...]

USSI’s Real World Training Reels in the Press

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Fort Lauderdale, FL (March 7, 2012) - US Solar Institute’s PV-401:Field Training class installed a 60-foot long solar awning as part of a Fort Lauderdale community redevelopment program which began in late February. The students in US Solar’s February PV-401: Field Training class expected to spend time on the campus roof building the [...]

Jamaica Solar Industry Finds New Champion

Politicians often live in a bubble – separated from the masses, blind to the trials and tribulations of their constituents.  From health care to housing to education, they lead an “other” life, rarely experiencing what the average citizen must go through on a daily basis. However, some areas of life are universally shared, for better [...]

Jamaica’s Solar Industry Need Not Wait for Approval Any Longer

A recent article in Go-Jamaica described how Canadian-based Solamon Energy Corporation is in preliminary discussions with the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy, and Mining to build a $444.2 million solar power plant in the island nation.  Such projects could help advance Jamaica’s goal of deriving 20% of its energy from renewable sources by 2030. Although [...]