Michelle Lewis

First Solar, the US’s largest solar panel manufacturer, has now announced the location of its new solar factory. The company says it will build a new facility in Gaffney, South Carolina, to handle the final production steps for its Series 6 Plus thin film modules. Those components are currently made by First Solar’s factories overseas, but once the South Carolina plant opens in the second half of 2026, they’ll be finished on US soil.

US EV sales declined in October following the expiration of the $7,500 federal tax credit on September 30, and the average transaction price (ATP) edged up, according to initial estimates from Kelley Blue Book, a Cox Automotive brand. However, there are still deals to be had.

Solar and wind are growing fast enough to meet all new electricity demand worldwide for the first three quarters of 2025, according to new data from energy think tank Ember. The group now expects fossil power to stay flat for the full year, marking the first time since the pandemic that fossil generation won’t increase.

Volkswagen just made it easier for EV owners to remotely access their cars without pulling out their phones. The myVW app now works on both watchOS and Wear OS smartwatches, giving drivers quick access to key vehicle functions right from their wrists.

ChargePoint just rolled out a huge AI update to its EV charger software, and it’s a big deal for anyone managing EV chargers, whether it’s a handful of stations or a sprawling network.

Burlingame, California-based Peak Energy just scored a huge win for sodium-ion batteries. The company announced a multi-year deal with utility-scale battery storage developer Jupiter Power to supply up to 4.75 GWh of sodium-ion battery systems between 2027 and 2030.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) says renewables and AI are reshaping the world’s energy future, and that transformation is happening faster than anyone expected. In its new “World Energy Outlook 2025,” the IEA warns that energy security risks now stretch far beyond oil and gas. Critical minerals essential to clean tech, defense, and AI have become the new fault lines in global supply chains. The IEA also states that energy has become a central focus of geopolitical power struggles, making it one of the defining economic and security challenges of our time.

Germany is about to become home to Europe’s largest battery storage system – a massive 1 gigawatt (GW) / 4 gigawatt-hour (GWh) project in Jänschwalde, Brandenburg.

Global energy giant RWE just hit another milestone at its Sofia Offshore Wind Farm in the North Sea – it’s finished installing all of its recyclable wind turbine blades, the first time that’s ever been done at scale in the UK.

Solar panel giant Qcells announced today that it’s temporarily furloughing 1,000 US workers – 25% of its workforce – and reducing pay and shifts at its factories in northeast Georgia due to supply chain delays caused by US Customs.

The world is barreling toward another record-breaking year of solar and wind deployment in 2025, says a new analysis from energy think tank Ember. If current trends continue, we could actually triple global renewable capacity by 2030 – but only if governments catch up to what’s already happening on the ground.

Rondo Energy and energy producer EDP are installing a massive 100 MWh renewable-powered heat battery at HEINEKEN’s brewery in Lisbon, Portugal. The project will deliver round-the-clock renewable steam and reduce emissions without altering the facility’s beer brewing process.

Tennessee EV charging infrastructure developer PowerUp America just ordered a minimum of 100 new DC fast chargers in Q3 from Kempower, the Finnish company with a manufacturing hub in North Carolina.

Polestar is about to make staying on course and finding your exit on the highway a lot less stressful. The EV maker is rolling out Google Maps’ new live lane guidance feature right onto the 10.2-inch driver display in the Polestar 4 – and it’s the first car brand to do so.

Solar and wind together accounted for 88% of new US electrical generating capacity added in the first eight months of 2025, according to data just released by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) which was reviewed by the SUN DAY Campaign. In August, solar energy alone provided two-thirds of the new capacity, marking two consecutive years in which solar has led every month among all energy sources. Solar and wind each added more new capacity than natural gas did. Within three years, the share of all renewables in installed capacity may exceed 40%.

This holiday season, Costco members can snag special deals on EVs from Volvo, Chevy, GMC, Cadillac, and Polestar, now through January 2, 2026 – here’s what’s on offer.

First Solar (Nasdaq: FSLR), the US’s largest solar panel maker, announced it will open a new 3.7-gigawatt (GW) factory in the US to finish production of its Series 6 modules started at its overseas factories.

New data from the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) shows that the US solar supply chain has been fully reshored, with manufacturing capacity growing across every part of the solar and storage sector.

bp pulse has opened a new 40-bay EV fast charging hub near Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport, marking the company’s latest move to expand its US charging network. The Hobby Airport hub is bp pulse’s second in Houston, as it opened its first US hub in early 2024 at bp’s Houston headquarters.

Enphase Energy just launched a new off-grid system that lets homeowners power their homes without a utility connection – even for extended periods. The California-based Enphase says the off-grid setup delivers a seamless way to live independently from the grid while still using solar, batteries, and a standby AC generator.

Global offshore wind targets are still strong enough to triple global capacity by 2030, despite the US’s offshore wind stagnation under Trump. A new analysis from energy think tank Ember and the Global Offshore Wind Alliance (GOWA) shows that the rest of the world is charging forward, underscoring confidence in offshore wind as a cornerstone of future clean energy systems.

Meta just signed more power purchase agreements (PPAs) with ENGIE North America, expanding their partnership to more than 1.3 gigawatts (GW) of solar across four projects in Texas. It’s just a shame the social media giant is also going big on gas plants in Louisiana to power its data centers at the same time.

Solar and battery storage continue to dominate growth among energy sources, while fossil fuels and nuclear power have stagnated. That’s according to data just released by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), which was reviewed by the SUN DAY Campaign.

Electricity demand is surging in Texas, and solar, wind, and battery storage are meeting it.

According to new data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), electricity demand across the Texas grid managed by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) hit record highs in the first nine months of 2025. ERCOT, which supplies power to about 90% of the state, saw demand jump 5% year-over-year to 372 terawatt hours (TWh) – a 23% increase since 2021. No other major US grid has grown faster over the past year.