People in the US are seeing some hard economic times, and their housing choices reflect that: research says more people are seeing renting as a viable mid-term strategy. So with more of us renting, we are lucky that legislators are taking note and supporting bills that would legalize community solar gardens. Solar gardenswhere you can invest in solar on someone elses propertyare already legal and growing in Colorado, where an 858-kilowatt garden is open at a community airport. Californias looking at a serious bill too, noted the original Treehugger article by Sami Grover. 

Its...

Renewable energy got a nod from the Texas legislature before they wrapped up their most recent session. House Bill Number 362 was signed into law seemingly to support property owners who might be getting some resistance from their neighborhood's property owners' association (POA), also known as a homeowners' association (HOA).

The new law states directly that POAs cannot prevent solar installations as long as certain criteria are met:

• Installation must be on the roof or within the property's fence.
• Roof installations must be mounted parallel to the roof and cannot extend past the...