The holiday season is often a time of slow news, but this year solar is continuing to be a hot topic even as the country chills out. All over, states and cities are changing their solar incentive programs, and people, businesses and governments are all making the decision to go solar. Solar’s even making news in space. Here’ the weekly roundup.

Last week, Clean Energy Authority launched its solar Christmas shopper under the Solar Viewpoint section. Check back each day for new gift ideas for your loved ones big and small. If you don’t get any solar-powered Christmas presents this year, maybe you can get a job at a solar-powered Christmas tree lot.

We also covered some of the major events going on throughout the country and across the world. As the tax break saga continues, the solar and renewables industries are worried that the popular 1603 Treasury grant program may go the way of the Dodo. A Senate proposal extends the program for another year, but the debate rages on in the House. If you support solar energy incentives, you can send your legislators a message at the Solar Energy Industry Association’s site.

Non-profit organizations are working to rebuild Haiti and are turning to solar as a means of quickly deploying energy. Solar homes may become less expensive thanks to the prefabricated, PV-included homes being designed and built by Solar Village Homes. And folks are looking to solar power to power their electric cars with larger home installations, making their lives more carbon-free.

It’s a couple years off, but Chicago will host the Solar Power International convention in 2013. It’s one the industry’s biggest meetings. Other cities are also increasing their devotion to solar power. San Francisco unveiled its 5 megawatt PV plant, the largest municipal PV plant in the country. And Minneapolis made solar-headway of its own, installing a 600 kilowatt PV system on its convention center. We also started coverage of Team New Jersey’s bid to win 2011’s Solar Decathlon, one of the most visible solar demonstrations in the world.

But, as always, we can’t cover everything.

For instance, NextEra Energy committed to buy roughly 40 megawatts from PV farms in Ontario that will be built by First Solar.

PV producer, Suntech expects to sell 20 percent more PV modules next year.

Sol Ventus, an outfit in Ohio, has been signing up school districts to install solar under power-purchase agreements, joining the ranks of other large PPA-financing companies like Sun Edison.

And India said that response to its National Solar Mission, which aims at generating 20,000 megawatts of power from solar resources within a decade, has thus far been good.

Image courtesy of NREL.