According to a review by the SUN DAY Campaign of data recently released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), renewable energy sources (i.e., biomass, geothermal, hydropower, solar, wind) provided almost 23% of the nation's electrical generation during the first ten months of 2022.  

Output by solar alone increased by 26.23% and its share of total U.S. electrical generation year-to-date (YTD) surpassed 5.0%, providing 5.05% through the end of October. For perspective, solar's YTD share first reached 1.0% in March 2016. Since then, solar's monthly generation has increased almost six-fold. The trend seems likely to continue - in October alone, solar's output was 31.68% greater than a year earlier, a rate of growth that strongly eclipsed that of every other energy source. 

A 2016 report by the International Renewable Energy Agency found that, given an average solar panel life span of 30 years, it is likely that millions of metric tons of solar panels will be decommissioned by the early to mid-2030s and may end up in landfill. That forecast and the pressure to use more responsibly-produced materials for solar panels should incentivize everyone from materials suppliers and manufacturers to installers and utilities to source panels responsibly and seek means to recycle or reuse them. Unfortunately, the tools are not easily available.

Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) Executive Director Aimee Boulanger, FabTech Solar Solutions Director of Business Development Janette Freeman and Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) Supervisor Al Salvi were panelists at the Washington State Solar Summit in October, organized by Solar Washington, and discussed these trends as well as other developments in the solar industry.

Where can utility-scale solar be developed in the Columbia Plateau region while also ensuring that important natural habitat, productive farmlands and ranchlands, and tribal rights and cultural resources are protected? The Washington State University Energy Program is leading a voluntary, collaborative, non-regulatory effort that engages relevant stakeholders, tribes, and key agencies in a conversation and process to identify least-conflict areas for utility-scale solar development. 

Crosscut recently reported that two greenhouse domes on the Colville Reservation will house the state’s first 'agrivoltaics' project, where food and electricity can grow in tandem on small acreage: Farms in Central Washington boost their yield with solar energy | Crosscut

Update July 16, 2020: (From Green Tech Media, July 16, 2020): All four FERC commissioners voted to dismiss a petition to declare solar net metering policies illegal. Click to read story.

A recent petition from a group called the New England Ratepayers Association (NERA) asks the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to expand federal regulatory authority over state net metering policies and the customers that participate in them. 

Solar Washington gave a Solar 101 presentation and tabled that the 2019 Farm & Food Expo on October 26, 2019 presented by the Spokane Conservation District. Jay Larson of PCI Renewables (pictured) volunteered on behalf of Solar Washington to deliver a presentation to homeowners, landowners and gardeners covering the basics of solar, how solar works, the relative costs and applications. Jay also presided over an information table for Solar Washington. 

Solar Washington joined dozens of other companies and organizations at Northwest SolarFest on Saturday, July 27 on the campus of Shoreline Community College. Several dozen homeowners, solar enthusiasts and others stopped by SW's booth to ask questions, get information about current incentives available, find out about installation examples, air their opinions and more.