Solar power

A few weeks ago, we talked about some real-world numbers shared by Redditors who added a rooftop solar system to their homes. Not to be outdone, Electrek readers took to the comments to share their own real-world solar numbers. Here are some of the best!

Rush Township supervisors in Centre County, Pennsylvania, voted this week to greenlight a key permit for the Black Moshannon Solar project – a large solar development that would turn toxic former mineland into a major source of clean power.

Turning cheap daytime solar into electricity you can actually use at night just got a lot cheaper. A new analysis from energy think tank Ember shows that utility-scale battery storage costs have fallen to $65 per megawatt-hour (MWh) as of October 2025 in markets outside China and the US. At that level, pairing solar with batteries to deliver power when it’s needed is now economically viable.

Los Angeles has officially cut ties with coal. City officials say the Intermountain Power Project (IPP) in Utah – the last coal-fired power plant supplying the US’s second-largest city – went offline just before Thanksgiving.

Newly published data from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), reviewed by the SUN DAY Campaign, reveal that solar accounted for over 75% of US electrical generating capacity added in the first nine months of 2025. In September alone, solar provided 98% of new capacity, marking 25 consecutive months in which solar has led among all energy sources.

Year-to-date (YTD), solar and wind have each added more new capacity than natural gas has. The mix of all renewables remains on track to exceed 40% of installed capacity within three years; solar alone may be 20%.

US Energy Information Administration (EIA) data released on November 25 and reviewed by the SUN DAY Campaign reveal that, during the first nine months of 2025 and for the past year, solar and battery storage have dominated growth among competing energy sources, while fossil fuels and nuclear power have stagnated.

Businesses canceled, closed, or scaled back more than $4.4 billion in major factory and clean energy projects from late September through October, according to new data from E2. That brings total private-sector renewable and EV project losses to over $28.7 billion in 2025 alone.

Are you wondering what kind of results you’d get if you added a home solar system to your roof? Homeowners are sharing their results online — and the real-world data might surprise you!

First Solar just cut the ribbon on a huge new factory in Iberia Parish, Louisiana, and it dwarfs the New Orleans Superdome. The company’s $1.1 billion, fully vertically integrated facility spans 2.4 million square feet, or about 11 times the size of the stadium’s main arena.

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.

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.

For years, Tesla Powerwall has been the go-to recommendation for “normals” looking for a painless, low-effort experience from their first home solar and battery backup solutions. But with a recent recall on more than 10,000 home batteries over fire safety concerns, more and more people are beginning to look for alternatives to the trailblazing Tesla brand. The good news: there are plenty of other great home solar battery solutions are there!

UPDATE 13NOV2025: added a new, American brand choice.

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.

Just as we saw with EVs in September, there’s a broad, documented surge in demand for home solar tied to the 30% Federal tax credit expiring December 31st. And, while it’s still not too late for many Americans to go solar, contractors in North Carolina, Florida, and Arizona say their 2025 calendars are jammed.

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.

The Australian government is floating a scheme that would share the benefits of solar power with everyone on the grid, offering totally free electricity to ratepayers in the middle of the day, when the sun is shining the strongest.

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%.

Starting this month, parking lots in South Korea with more than 80 spaces will be required to install solar canopies and carports. But, unlike similar laws that have been proposed in the US, this new law doesn’t just apply to new construction – existing lots will have to comply as well!

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.