Using the app, you can download your home energy use from your local utility right onto your Facebook page and invite your “friends” to do the same. Then you can compare notes on how much energy you use and share tips on how to improve. Read the full article.

CONNECTICUT – 30-MW Residential PV Incentive Program Launched In March 2012, the Clean Energy Finance and Investment Authority (CEFIA) unveiled its new solar photovoltaics residential investment program. The ultimate goal of the program is to support 30 megawatts of residential solar photovoltaics (PV).  The first round of funding is $7.5 million, although long-term there is $40 million allocated to the program.  Only customers of Connecticut Light & Power and United Illuminating are eligible.

Systems owned outright by a homeowner receive an upfront rebate, whereas systems owned by a third party receive a performance-based incentive. The overall goal of the program is 30 MW of residential PV by 2022, and the incentive amounts are scheduled to step down over time. Systems up to 10 kW are eligible for incentives. The first two steps have already been published; the program is currently in “step one.”

To get more information on this program click here.

A rising trend of super-efficient, solar-powered new homes allows homeowners to combat rising energy costs by giving back to the power grid. Some owners are even realizing a small profit from their home’s power-generating capacity.  Intelligent house layout and design, and home features such as dual-pane windows, air-tight ductwork and high-caliber wall and attic insulation, are curbing energy consumption. And when coupled with solar energy, captured through photovoltaic panels, these homes are becoming their own mini power plants that feed electricity to the grid.

In 2009, U.S. homeowners paid an average $2,200 for energy use in their homes, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. A growing number of homeowners have the opportunity to erase that cost.  Read the full article.

The program is a public-private partnership – the feds will pay  $2 billion, ordered through a Presidential Memorandum, for federal building upgrades, and 60 CEOs, mayors, university presidents and labor leaders committed to invest $2 billion of private capital for federal and private-sector buildings.  There are no up-front costs to taxpayers – energy service firms will bid on the work and make the upgrades with no upfront cost – they will get paid over time through energy savings on utility bills.   After the energy service companies are paid back, building owners, be they public or private, keep future savings.

“Upgrading the energy efficiency of America’s buildings is one of the fastest, easiest and cheapest ways to save money, cut down on harmful pollution, and create good jobs right now,” says Obama in a statement.   The program is estimated to save $40 billion a year in energy costs, and create 50,000 jobs in the hard-hit construction industry.  Read the full article.