Everett, WA — Several thousand Snohomish County PUD customers are supporting solar energy by participating in the utility’s voluntary Planet Power green energy program. The PUD will fund two additional projects for installation in the coming months. With the new systems, the program now has helped fund 34 solar arrays throughout Snohomish County. This is the eighth year of grants under the program. Click to read more.

On Tuesday, August 22 Solar Washington Board President David Nicol served on a Climate Careers Panel for teens led by the Seattle Youth Climate Action Network in partnership with the Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle Aquarium and Pacific Science Center. Nicol spoke to a group of approximately 50 high school students who were there to learn about careers in the renewable energy field and other science fields related to climate change.

The goal of this event was to expose participating teens to a range of career paths and fields that connect to studying and fighting climate change. The Seattle Youth Climate Action Network (CAN) empowers teens to address climate change in their communities through education, leadership, and action. The event was co-hosted by UW College of the Environment. Click to read panel bios.

The May 2016 SW General Meeting took place Wednesday, May 4 in Seattle. The May General Meeting featured two topics: 

• Post 2016 Legislative Session Discussion, and
• Next Generation Materials and Systems for Solar Energy Capture.

March 29, 2016 - During the 2015 Washington State Solar Summit presented by Solar Washington a panel of stakeholders discussed the future of net metering, third party ownership, and rate design. At the end of the Summit an impromptu meeting initiated by Dave Warren, Energy Services Director of the Washington Public Utilities Association (WPUDA) along with various stakeholders, was created for the purpose of staying on top of these issues.

On the evening of February 23, 2015, DLR Group (an architecture firm) hosted more than 60 women and men to the second annual Women in Solar Energy gathering. It was part of a 17 city simultaneous event crafted to raise the visibility of women, promote their key roles in their companies or agencies, network and learn from each other.

The purpose of this report (released February 2016) is to provide state lawmakers and regulators, electric utilities, the solar industry, and other energy stakeholders with timely, accurate, and unbiased updates on how states are choosing to study, adopt, implement, amend, or discontinue policies associated with distributed solar photovoltaics (PV).

(February 10, 2016) Washington, DC  — The Solar Foundation (TSF), an independent nonprofit research and education organization, released state-by-state data from its annual National Solar Jobs Census series via the State Solar Jobs Census Map. This year’s State Census provides the most detailed solar jobs information for every state including data on solar jobs per state and federal congressional district. Read the full press release.