U.S. Senator Michael Bennet, D-Colo., center, helps as SolarCity employees Jarret Esposito, left, and Jake Torwatzky, install a solar panel on a home in south Denver. SolarCity, one of the nation's largest installers of rooftop solar systems, on Tuesday, June 17, 2014 announced it is buying Silveo, a solar panel manufacturer.(Photo: Ed Andrieski AP)SolarCity, the dominant U.S. installer of residential solar panels, announced Thursday that it is continuing to expand by opening 20 new operation centers in seven states by the end of this year.The San Mateo, Calif.-based company, which leases rooftop systems with little to zero upfront costs, said it more than tripled its number of new customers in 2014's second quarter compared to the same period a year ago.Investors welcomed the expansion news, sending the price of SolarCity's SCTY[1] stock up more than 5% in midmorning trading to $71.43. It closed up 4.8% at $70.95.SolarCity said it expects the new regional operations centers will create more than 600 additional jobs in Arizona, California, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada and New York. It said they will cut costs by decreasing service and installation drive times.The company, whose largest shareholder is entrepreneur Elon Musk, has been rapidly expanding and taking bold steps. In June, it announced it would acquire solar panel maker Silevo[2] and expand into manufacturing with new panel factories.Musk, also CEO of electric car maker Tesla Motors TSLA[3], said the Silevo acquisition will enable SolarCity to produce efficient, low-cost panels in volumes large enough to ensure its supply. The company aims to build in New York state, within two years, one of the world's largest solar panel factories."If we don't do this, we thought there was a risk of not being able to have the solar panels we need to expand our business in the long-term," Musk told reporters.Separately,…

A house with a sale pending sign in Quincy, Mass. Despite rising home values in recent years, many households' net worth have not increased as much as inflation, a Fed study finds.(Photo: Michael Dwyer AP)The wealth gap widened from 2010 to 2013, with inflation-adjusted income falling for all but the richest households, according to a Federal Reserve report released Thursday.Median income, after figuring inflation, declined 5% during the period, from $49,000 to $46,700, the Fed's Survey of Consumer Finances shows. Only the top 10% of households saw an increase, with their median income rising 2% to $223,200.The period covered by the survey includes the early part of the recovery following the 2007-2009 Great Recession. In the previous survey, which captured changes from 2007-2010, median income tumbled 8%.In the more recent three-year period, median income fell 17% for people without a high school diploma, 2% for high school graduates and 11% for those with some college. Income for college graduates increased 1%.Income declined for all age groups, except families headed by people age 35 to 44.Households' estimates of their net worth, meanwhile, declined across nearly all income groups, even for those at the top. Median net worth, adjusting for inflation, fell 2% to $81,200. Households in the top 10% income bracket were hit with a 12% drop in net worth to $1.13 million.Only upper-middle-income households realized an increase, $161,300 from $138,600.The drop in overall net worth is largely related to a fall in the median home value, to $170,000 in 2013 from $182,000 in 2010. The Fed called the decline "a little surprising, given the widespread perception that house values have stabilized and partially recovered in most areas." Among other reasons for the disparity, the report suggests that the homeowners surveyed may have overestimated price declines after overvaluing their properties during…

While some states mull over how to manage the burgeoning cryptocurrency market, the Texas Department of Banking says bitcoin is property rather than currency and therefore not subject to the regulations for currency exchanges. (Sept. 5) AP...