Tioga Energy has announced the completion of a 961 kW solar energy project for two sites in the Washington Elementary School District (WESD). This undertaking will save the WESD more than $1.5 million over the next 20 years, including over $28,000 in the first year of operation alone.

As part of its SunShot Initiative, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced $12 million in new funding aimed at streamlining and standardizing local solar permitting, zoning, metering, and connection processes.

IKEA announced that it has officially plugged in the solar energy system installed at its store in Sunrise, Fla., which will be the largest solar installation in south Florida and, when combined with IKEA projects already completed at stores in Orlando and Tampa, will make IKEA the state’s largest non-utility solar owner.

Solar company Semprius Inc. has been identified in the field of Energy and Materials as one of 2013’s 50 Disruptive Companies, an annual list compiled by MIT Technology Review of the world’s most innovative technology companies.

IKEA officially plugged-in the solar power system installed at its distribution center in Perryville, Md., which is the state’s largest solar rooftop array. The 768,972-square-foot photovoltaic (PV) array is a 2,674.9-kW system, built with 18,576 panels.