China Secures Major Foothold in California’s Growing Solar Market. . . . Chinese manufacturers of photovoltaic solar panels have secured an increasing hold in California, the United States’ largest solar market, doubling their market share in the last year alone, according to a new report. In the last three years, China’s share of the market increased from 2 percent to 46 percent, says Bloomberg New Energy Finance, a research and consulting firm. The share of U.S. manufacturers in the California market dropped from 43 percent to 16 percent during that same period. “The ascendancy of Chinese manufacturers would be noteworthy regardless of market conditions, but is particularly telling in a time when purse-strings are still tight,” the report said. One Chinese company, Yingli Solar, now claims 27 percent of the California solar market. California accounts for about 40 percent of the U.S.’s total solar power business. The lower manufacturing costs of Chinese companies have given them a strong competitive advantage and have contributed to a sharp drop in solar module prices in the past year. Source

Residential solar leases offer a no-money-down, low-monthly plan that makes solar electricity cheaper than the stuff we get by wire–and you don’t have to buy the panels.

Say hello to the thing that could save our sun-splashed suburban lifestyle: affordable residential solar power that puts roof-top solar panels within reach of the most cash-strapped America consumer. This breakthrough is not a result of technological innovation, but a new financing scheme cooked up on Wall Street called a “residential solar lease,” a no-money-down, low-monthly plan that has made solar electricity cheaper than the stuff we get by wire. It’s an old approach to a new source of energy, and it is taking California by storm.