The city could remove limits on tall buildings downtown, and provide quick approval for small apartments in most neighborhoods.
Solar power
Posted inCity
Energy secretary visits Berkeley, touting app to speed up solar permits
The Biden administration wants to get more Americans to install solar panels by making the permitting process faster and easier.
Posted inCity
Berkeley to get a little greener with new alternative to PG&E
Eleven cities participating in East Bay Community Energy will switch over commercial accounts in June, and residential in November.
Posted inCity, Schools
Streamlined permitting aims to cut solar costs
Oakland Mayor Jean Quan speaks in support of a new streamlined solar permit process across nine Bay Area cities, at Sungevity’s Jack London Square offices. Photo: Julia Hannafin Oakland Mayor Jean Quan speaks in support of a new streamlined solar permit process across nine Bay Area cities, at Sungevity’s Jack London Square offices. Photo: Julia […]
Posted inEvents, Schools
With collapse of Solyndra, is there hope for solar?
The price of photovoltaic panels is plummeting which is good news for the solar industry long term.
Posted inCity
Mayor defends success of city’s pilot solar program
Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates has defended Berkeley FIRST, a pilot program initiated by the city to help residents finance solar power systems for their homes, and which has been cited as a model for other cities across the country. In a letter to the East Bay Express, Bates says he believes Berkeley FIRST might be […]
Posted inHousing & Development
Berkeley abandons pioneering solar program
Two years after it unveiled a pioneering residential solar program, Berkeley has decided to close it down. Only thirteen property owners signed up for the BerkeleyFIRST pilot program, Judith Scherr reports in the East Bay Express, despite it being cited as a model for other cities, and even countries, and receiving glowing reviews in the media. […]
Posted inCity
The world’s energy research capital. Begins with B, ends with Y
OK, my headline might be stretching the point. But it might not. Look what is coalescing in Berkeley: Energy Biosciences InstituteRenewable and Appropriate Energy LaboratoryUniversity of California Energy Institute (ugliest website ever for a serious project)The Energy Institute at Haas (new this week)A bewildering array of energy research at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (there’s work on […]