Solar power

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has announced $56 million in funding to boost US solar manufacturing and recycling.

In 2021, 163 gigawatts (GW) – nearly two-thirds – of new renewable power added was cheaper than the cheapest coal-fired power plants in G20 countries, according to a new report released by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

In 2020, 26% of US households – that’s 32.25 million out of 123.53 million homes – used electricity as their only source of energy, according to the US Energy Information Administration. But what the EIA doesn’t note is what fuels that “electricity as the only source of energy.”

Finnish startup Polar Night Energy and local Finnish utility Vatajankoski have together built the world’s first commercial sand-based, high-temperature heat storage system that can be powered by solar and wind.

As several companies across the globe move closer to delivering scaled production of solar EVs, a team in China has taken sustainable transportation a step further by creating a solar vehicle that runs entirely on energy from the sun. Introducing the Tianjin solar car.

For the first time ever, wind and solar produced 17.96% more electricity in the month of April than nuclear power plants. 

The US Supreme Court, in a 6-3 ruling this morning, “sharply curtailed” the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) options to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from existing power plants – the second-largest source of emissions in the US. Greenhouse gas emissions cause climate change.

The US Department of Energy (DOE) today released the 2022 US Energy and Employment Report (USEER), which reveals that 2021 saw electric vehicle jobs increase by a whopping 26.2%, or 21,961, new jobs.

Here at Electrek we love DIY projects. And solar power. And electric bikes. So when those three can be combined, that’s pretty much a trifecta in our books.

In this case, we got the chance to chat with the builder of an awesome solar charging utility trailer that the industrious e-bike owner built to upgrade his ride.

Here’s where the world’s seven largest economies stand in their clean energy transitions ahead of the 48th G7 Leaders’ Summit next week in Germany.

Jackson, Michigan-based Sesame Solar is today unveiling what it claims is the world’s first fully renewable mobile nanogrid – that’s a small microgrid – that runs on solar and green hydrogen.

The US Army has launched the largest floating solar farm in the Southeast. It’s also the first project of its kind for the US Department of Defense.

President Joe Biden will today waive tariffs for 24 months on solar panels made in Southeast Asia in response to a Department of Commerce (DOC) investigation that is destabilizing the US solar industry.

The Biden administration announced this week that it will cut the cost of building wind and solar on US public land by 50%.

Solar electric vehicle startup Sono Motors has announced a purchase contract with European refrigerated trailer expert CHEREAU to codevelop a solar-powered version for fleet trucks and trailers. Together, the companies hope to leverage Sono’s solar technology to reduce both fuel costs and CO2 emissions. The new solar-powered refrigerated vehicle is expected to debut at IAA Transportation 2022 in September.

Seoul-headquartered PV solar-cell manufacturing giant Qcells today announced that it’s opening a new solar panel manufacturing facility in Dalton, Georgia.

The EU plans to transition to renewables more than twice as fast as Japan by 2030, according to new analysis released by global energy think tank Ember ahead of the G7 environment, climate, and energy ministers meeting, which kicks off today in Berlin. The ministers will decide whether and how G7 countries will commit to clean power by 2035. 

St. Petersburg, Florida-based Climate First Bank, which claims to be the world’s first FDIC-insured community bank founded to fight the climate crisis, today launched an online solar lending platform for Florida residents.

Four EU countries – Belgium, Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands – jointly announced yesterday that they have set an offshore wind target of at least 65 gigawatts (GW) by 2030 and then intend to more than double that combined total to 150 GW by 2050.

For perspective, according to the Global Wind Energy Council, as of September 2021, there were 35.3 GW of global offshore wind capacity.

EV charging network Electrify America has announced the start of a 15-year virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) with renewable energy developer Terra-Gen to build a sustainable solar farm in Southern California. The project, named “Electrify America Solar Glow 1,” is estimated to produce enough solar power annually to more than offset any energy delivered on the current EV charging network.

Capistrano Volkswagen/Mazda, a car dealership in San Juan Capistrano, California, has partnered with San Diego-based solar and battery installation company Stellar Solar to offer EV customers solar, battery storage, and EV connectivity to power their cars with clean energy.