Solar power

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded ENERGY STAR certification to five additional Honda and Acura dealerships, recognizing them as among the most energy-efficient vehicle dealerships in the country and bringing Honda’s total number of 2025 awarded stores to seven – more than any other auto brand.

Lightsource bp’s 180 megawatt (MW) Prairie Ronde Solar in Louisiana is now online and generating enough power for the equivalent of around 31,000 homes.

Global energy demand spiked in 2024, driven largely by surging electricity use, according to a new report released today by the International Energy Agency (IEA). Electricity consumption jumped by nearly 1,100 terawatt-hours – a hefty 4.3% increase – nearly twice the annual average growth of the past decade.

This dramatic rise was largely fueled by the electrification of transportation, record-breaking global temperatures that ramped up cooling needs, coupled with increased industrial activity, and growing energy demand from data centers and AI applications.

By February 1, 2028, renewables would account for 37.4% of total available installed utility-scale generating capacity – just behind natural gas (40.2%) – with solar and wind making up more than 75% of the installed renewable energy capacity, according to data just released by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

Chick-fil-A is working with microgrid developer SolMicroGrid to pilot solar and battery storage microgrids at its restaurants in California.

If the world covered every suitable roof with solar panels, it could supply 2/3 of humanity’s total electricity consumption – allowing the globe to transition completely off of fossil electricity generation, according to a new study out of the University of Sussex.

In the US in 2024, wind and solar accounted for 17% of total electricity generation, surpassing coal, which fell to a record low of 15%, according to a new report from global energy think tank Ember.

The US installed 50 gigawatts (GW) of new solar capacity in 2024, the largest single year of new capacity added to the grid by any energy technology in over two decades. That’s enough to power 8.5 million households.

The solar industry is bracing for a turbulent year, and SolarReviews’ newly released 2025 Solar Industry Survey lays out exactly why. The survey, now in its third year, gathered insights from solar companies across the industry between December 2, 2024, and January 3, 2025, covering everything from the Inflation Reduction Act to workforce development and the state of the supply chain.

Renewables increased their output by almost 10% and provided nearly a quarter of US electrical generation in 2024, according to newly released US Energy Information Administration (EIA) data.

British energy giant National Grid has reached a deal to sell National Grid Renewables in the US to Canadian investment firm Brookfield Asset Management for $1.74 billion.

GAF Energy has launched an upgraded version of its Timberline Solar nailable shingle, the ES 2, which delivers 23% more power per shingle.

Solar panel maker Heliene and steel solar panel frame maker Origami Solar have partnered to offer US-made, steel-framed solar panels in North America.

After scrapping plans to build a $2.6 billion battery energy storage system factory in Georgia, FREYR Battery (NYSE: FREY) has rebranded itself as T1 Energy (NYSE: TE).

Tesla and Honda are set to purchase all the power from Delilah I, a new 300 MW solar farm in Texas.

Danish renewables developer European Energy (EE) has completed the sale of its largest solar farm in the US to date.

Clean energy investments took a serious hit in January, sinking to their lowest point since the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) supercharged the industry with tax credits and incentives. Growing uncertainty around the future of these policies – especially with the Republican-majority Congress debating potential rollbacks – has led to a sharp drop in new projects and an increase in cancellations, reports E2.

The International Energy Agency’s (IEA) newly released “Electricity 2025” report predicts that global power consumption will jump nearly 4% annually through 2027. That’s like adding an entire Japan’s worth of electricity use every year for the next three years.

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the Cumberland Forest Limited Partnership are turning former Appalachian coal mines into clean energy hubs. They just announced new agreements with Sun Tribe Development and ENGIE to build 14 solar farms and three battery storage systems across 360 acres in Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky.

Renewable energy – solar, wind, geothermal, hydropower, biomass – accounted for more than 90% of total US electrical generating capacity added in 2024, according to data released yesterday by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and reviewed by the SUN DAY campaign.

Solar alone accounted for over 81% of the new capacity. Moreover, December was the 16th month in a row in which solar was the largest source of new capacity.

A coalition of clean energy groups – representing over 2,000 companies and hundreds of billions in private investment – is holding more than 100 meetings today with bipartisan members of Congress to underscore the critical role of IRA clean energy tax credits.