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“We’ve never come close to running out of energy.”
Photo Credit: iStock
At their Houston house, Jeff and Jenny Wright haven’t had to pay an electricity bill in more than a year.
They credited a setup that combines rooftop solar, battery storage, and participation in a virtual power plant, allowing surplus power to reduce their costs.
As NBC News reported, the couple’s system includes rooftop solar panels for their home’s electricity needs and two Tesla battery packs for storing leftover power.
When they have more energy than they need, they can send it back to the grid through a virtual power plant program, or VPP, and get compensated.
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Once the home’s own energy use is covered, the company running the system, Sunrun in this case, gives the Wrights a $240 yearly incentive, and their monthly bill credits have gone as high as $30.
“I’m getting fairly close to retirement, so cost control for us is a big thing,” he said.
Sunrun said 107,000 customers took part in its VPP in 2025, collectively sending 18 gigawatt-hours back to the grid and receiving $17 million in payments. Sunrun and Palmetto are among the largest companies offering this approach through programs like Palmetto’s LightReach, which can connect a home into a VPP if it subscribes to both solar and battery plans.
VPP programs are active or in development in 35 states and Washington, D.C., while U.S. electricity prices are about 40% higher than they were six years ago.
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Lower bills are only part of the appeal of home electrification. These systems can also give homeowners more control during outages and extreme weather while helping a grid under growing pressure from demand sources such as AI data centers.
Wright said the system has continued to work well when conditions get tough.
“I never notice it, the lights don’t dim,” he said. “We’ve never come close to running out of energy.”
In Texas, heat waves and storms can put serious strain on the grid.
💡Go deep on the latest news and trends shaping the residential solar landscape
Federal officials have said the U.S. will need major new resources to handle future peak electricity demand. NBC News also cited Rocky Mountain Institute estimates that VPPs could reduce U.S. peak demand by 60 gigawatts by 2030 and cut annual power-sector costs by $17 billion.
Energy companies and utilities are pushing to scale up these programs. Sunrun president Paul Dickson said a traditional power plant can take 10 years or more to build, but a VPP can be launched within months.
Reliant, meanwhile, said 300,000 customers already participate in its VPP programs, and senior vice president Bill Clayton told NBC News, “You really don’t need a bunch of fancy devices in order to be a participant.”
You can also pair solar panels with efficient electric appliances to drive your utility costs even lower. To get started with solar, EnergySage can help you compare quotes and save up to $10,000 on installation costs. If upfront costs make a solar panel array prohibitive, Palmetto’s LightReach solar leasing program can install the technology on your property for $0 down, helping you reduce your electricity bills by up to 20%.
Adding battery storage to a solar setup is one of the best ways to protect your home during outages, save money on energy, and go off-grid. It can also help you store extra electricity for later use instead of losing it.
Jeff Wright told the outlet, “We’ve got two batteries here, and what we have is not going to stabilize the entire grid, but if enough of us get together and do this, it will help everybody in Texas and ourselves as well.”
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Another Effect of the Mideast War: A Solar-Energy Boom Far From Iran The New York Times
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Jun 17, 2026
The property of the proposed CAFO in Muncy Creek. SUN-GAZETTE FILE PHOTO
Whether two Lancaster County-based companies that want to bring a hybrid form of agriculture and energy businesses in Muncy Creek Township receive conditional use will be determined soon.
Township Supervisors Eric Newcomer, chair, and Harley Fry II are expected to give their verbal decision on the conditional use applications for the hybrid chicken and egg laying operation and solar energy facility at a public meeting that begins at 5 p.m. June 25 at the township building on Route 442.
The proposed projects consist of a concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) with 350,000 free-range chickens living in five barns, each barn about 88 feet wide by 616 feet long, each barn housing 70,000 birds. The project would be operated by AgVentures Inc. A second conditional use application is for Bollinger Solar LLC., which wants to build a 32 megawatt solar energy array with 52,000 panels and subsequent equipment on the land owned by Sunny Side Up Farms, which is zoned for agriculture-conservation and residential use. The number of barns and megawattage has differed from the original application.
Supervisors have a bit longer, or by July 11, to render a written report, according to J. Michael Wiley, board solicitor.
At the time Bollinger applied to the township the township did not regulate solar so it was a “use not provided for” and required a hearing.
The board intends to make a decision to either grant, deny, or grant with conditions these projects. Each of the projects is a separate condition, Wiley previously told the Sun-Gazette.
Supervisor Gary Phillips is recused due to statements he made on social media perceived to be biased against the project. Phillips told the Sun-Gazette after one of the hearings that he had three lawyers recommend that he step aside from anything to do with this proposal. He remains an active supervisor able to vote on any other type of business before the board.
Muncy School Board voted on a resolution opposing the proposed CAFO and associated solar array in a vote of 7-1 last summer. Not more than a mile from the proposed site is the Ward L. Myers Elementary School where 450 students attend.
“We have recess, we have a lot of outdoor activities, and the high school plays a lot of their sporting events over there,” Muncy School District Superintendent Craig Skaluba told WBRE-WYOU.
Lately, too, a farmer on the same ground has been riding a tractor and pulling a machine to spread chicken manure on the fields, said neighbor Karla Shipman.
The spreading of the manure is unrelated to anything that has gone before the supervisors at this time regarding the proposed projects.
However, the prevalent odor, especially in the June heat, has become a nuisance and can be detected if one drives by the field or for those living near it.
Shipman described the odor of the spread manure in the field as “atrocious.”
The pungency, she believes, is from it clinging to the plant life.
Weed growth on the property has reached 3 feet high or greater.
The manure sticks on the weeds and tall grass, rather than the farmer chopping them low and then tilling the ground, she said.
The manure piles have been there since early spring. More tractor trailer loads have since dropped off more manure, she said.
She said she believes the farmer may be in a lease agreement with the landowner.
Wanting to find out more, Shipman said last month she reached out to the Lycoming County Conservation District, where she spoke with an individual there who was going to see whether the owner of the manure had a manure management plan.
The Shipmans have been at the hearings from the start as members of Muncy Area Neighborhood Preservation Coalition.
The coalition of neighbors and others hired Zachary DuGan, an attorney with Perciballi & Williams, who has provided legal counsel and asked direct and cross examination questions of the applicants, their witnesses and those opposing the project during the conditional use hearings.
“I am not against farming,” Shipman said. “We moved here almost 40 years ago and the field was filled with cows.”
Knowing that Sunny Side Up Farms owns the parcel and is permitting the farmer to spread the manure – even as it awaits a decision from the supervisors – has upset the couple.
“It’s a kick in the teeth,” Shipman said.
Litigants in continuing legal action between the Lycoming County register and recorder and Lycoming County …
JERSEY SHORE — Confronting a roughly $1 million budget deficit, the Jersey Shore Area School District is …
A resolution was approved by Williamsport City Council authorizing the sale of fire apparatus to Trout Run …
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India needs around 10 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of battery storage immediately to stop renewable energy curtailment when the s coal fleet cannot ramp down below its technical minimum, according to a new analysis by energy think tank Ember. With solar power flooding the grid at midday, several coal-based power plants are required to operate at or even below their minimum technical loads (MTL), levels at which they can safely operate. As a result, grid operators are curtailing clean electricity to keep coal-based power plants online for the nighttime surge in demand and to provide necessary reserves.
Ember’s analysis found that keeping coal above its MTL forced the curtailment of around 2.1 terawatt-hours (TWh) of renewable generation in the fiscal year (FY) 2025–26, equivalent to 1.3% of total renewable generation. In 2026, around 10 GWh of storage, charging during the midday solar window, would have been enough to absorb that surplus, keep coal above its safe operating floor and avoid the curtailment altogether.
“Solar and wind curtailment is becoming a visible part of India’s real-time grid balancing, and the volumes are already noticeable and rising,” says the report’s author, Neshwin Rodrigues, Senior Energy Analyst at Ember. “Without sufficient flexibility, including storage, this could become a constraint on the next phase of renewable energy growth.”
The report highlights that the core issue is that coal still provides almost all of the grid’s flexibility, including its ancillary reserves. As solar capacity has grown, coal is being cycled from near-full output at night to its lowest point at midday every single day. For example, on 6 March 2026, solar and wind reached 41% of the generation mix at midday, pushing coal down by around 49 gigawatt (GW) in six hours before it had to climb back up by 51 GW in the evening as solar collapsed. “Coal was built for sustained high output, not this daily deep cycling,” says Rodrigues.
Once coal hits its MTL, around 55% of rated capacity, it can no longer provide downward reserves, and renewable generation would need to be curtailed to keep the fleet at this technical minimum. By April 2026, coal was breaching that floor in more than half of all midday dispatch intervals. Renewable curtailment met 37% of down-regulation that month, up from near zero a year earlier.
“This is curtailment required purely to keep coal plants at their MTL,” Rodrigues said. “Before the system even considers reserve requirements or grid constraints, renewable generation is being cut simply to make space for coal to remain operable. The constraint is structural.”
With solar capacity on the rise, the report highlights that curtailment of clean electricity is increasing in the absence of the country deploying alternatives like battery storage for grid flexibility. India added around 24 GW of solar capacity between October 2025 and April 2026, reaching approximately 154 GW. Peak-hour curtailment had returned to 4% of solar and wind generation by April 2026, comparable to the most constrained months of late 2025, despite April falling outside the worst seasonal window. Solar and wind energy curtailment owing to the emergency Tertiary Reserve Ancillary Service (TRAS) down mechanism was over 3,600 GWh by early June 2026, from zero in mid-2026. Since March 2026, the volume of such curtailment has been rising sharply, adding over 1,400 GWh in just two months. On some days, the scale of curtailment is particularly striking, exceeding 120 GWh on both 1 and 3 May 2026.
Given that last year, the sharpest rise in emergency TRAS-down curtailment was between September and November 2025, the report forecasts that, when the post-monsoon period of October-November 2026 arrives, with an even larger solar fleet, curtailment during those hours is likely to exceed 2025 levels unless storage comes online at scale.
The report highlights that battery storage is the solution, as charging during the midday surplus lets batteries absorb generation that would otherwise be curtailed and provide the downward reserves that coal no longer can. It cites the example of the 3.37 GWh Khavda project in Gujarat, the world’s largest outside China, commissioned within 10 months, to show how quickly battery storage projects can be deployed. According to the report, site-ready projects can be built in five to seven months.
However, the binding constraint, the report finds, is the connectivity framework. Current rules can require BESS projects to install commensurate renewable generation before they are permitted long-term grid charging, treating grid charging as a temporary concession rather than a normal operating mode. “The rule treats two different operations as equivalent: a battery absorbing surplus generation at noon, and a battery drawing power through a constrained connection at night,” Rodrigues said. “The first helps the grid; only the second may need limits. The current restriction is broader than the risk it is trying to manage.”
The report recommends that grid charging during solar surplus hours be permitted by default, with drawal limits applied only where non-solar-hour use creates genuine network risk. A battery free to charge from the grid can chase system-wide surplus and the cheap midday power that already falls to around INR 0.1/kilowatt-hour (kWh) on the Day Ahead Market, the route through which merchant investment can enter at the scale viability gap funding alone cannot finance. “The current framework has the default the wrong way around, restricting the very operation that would help the grid most,” says Rodrigues. “Correcting it would allow storage to charge when it reduces curtailment, lowers system stress, and improves flexibility. In doing so, it would unlock the next phase of India’s renewable energy growth.”
Article from Ember. Creative Commons Attribution license (CC-BY-4.0).
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Europeans are transforming their garden fences into mini solar farms. But is the trend a gimmick or a genius solution to energy independence?
Solar is already cushioning Europe from the crippling costs of fossil fuels amid the war on Iran and has been described as a “shining star” of the EU’s energy transition.
According to a recent analysis by SolarPower Europe, harnessing sunlight for electricity has already saved the continent a staggering €12.8 billion by lowering gas imports since the conflict began.
This works out at an average of €136 million per day – despite Europe’s outdated grid currently stalling around €100 billion worth of clean energy projects.
Interest in traditional rooftop solar panels spiked following Iran’s stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz – a fossil fuel chokepoint that usually carries around one-fifth of global oil supplies.
In Germany, renewable energy firm Enpal BV saw inquiries for solar panels rise by 30 per cent after the conflict began, while solar brand 1KOMMA5° GmbH has also reported an almost doubling of interest in solar.
UK energy firm EON saw interest in solar soar by 23 per cent between 23 February and 1 March, before surging a further 63 per cent between 2 and 8 March.
But it’s not just rooftop solar that is gaining momentum. The UK recently became the latest European country to lift restrictions on plug-in solar, confirming that low-cost panels will soon be available from budget retailers like Lidl and Iceland.
Now, Europeans are getting even more creative – by installing solar fences in their gardens.
Solar fences can maximise land use by combining a “physical boundary with renewable energy generation”, according to Jacksons Fencing, a company that sells fences fitted with solar panels in the UK and France.
One of its biggest selling points is that it removes the need for costly installations that often require scaffolding. Solar fences are also space-efficient, which is ideal for homeowners who have limited roof space or unsuitable roofs for panel installations.
These futuristic fences can also be scaled up gradually, allowing Europeans to install panels over time rather than all at once.
However, the panels capture less sunlight than they do on roofs due to their vertical positioning. According to Bluetti Power, under optimal conditions a typical solar fence can generate between 100 and 150 watts per linear metre.
For a 10-metre-long wall, this could translate to approximately one to 1.5 kW of power. With around five hours of peak sunlight, this would generate between 5 and 7.5 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity per day.
While this isn’t enough to power a full home, it could help run essential household items like an energy-efficient refrigerator or an LED TV.
In comparison, an average domestic solar power typically produces 2 kWh of electricity per day.
“Performance [also] depends on positioning, shading and available boundary length,” Maguire says.
“In some areas, permissions or regulations may influence installation, particularly in sensitive or listed environments.”
German solar energy firm Next2Sun has completed 479 solar fence projects across six European countries, covering some 10km.
The company says that vertical photovoltaic systems (PVs) can cost as little as €250 – but prices can be higher if households want a more natural design. Costs can be amortised within eight years, putting them at a similar investment level as traditional rooftop panels.
Next2Sun doesn’t just build solar fences for domestic properties, but also offers vertical panels for farms and commercial sites such as airports.
“Solar fencing is suited to infrastructure and commercial environments, where long stretches of boundaries already exist and remain unused from an energy perspective,” Maguire says.
“Warehouses, logistics centres and business parks often have large perimeters where solar fencing can support on-site energy demand – while schools, utilities and local authorities could integrate solar fencing into sustainability programmes.”
Maguire adds that while considerations around durability, safety standards, glare and maintenance in high traffic environments are needed, the concept “aligns strongly with a broader push” to integrate renewable energy into existing infrastructure.
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Global renewable energy capacity reached 5.15 terawatts at the end of last year after record installations, bringing the world close to half of the 11.17-terawatt clean energy capacity target set for 2030, according to international reports.
The 11.17-terawatt target was set for 2030 at the 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or COP28, held in Dubai.
The data was compiled from international reports for June 22, World Renewable Energy Day.
Solar energy led the expansion with 511 gigawatts of new installed capacity, followed by wind energy with 159 gigawatts.
Together, solar and wind accounted for 97% of renewable energy growth during the period.
The remaining growth came from sources including hydropower, bioenergy, and geothermal energy.
With record installations pushing total global renewable capacity to 5.15 terawatts by the end of last year, the world moved closer to reaching half of the 2030 target.
Renewable energy-based electrification stands out in international reports as one of the fastest, most scalable, and most cost-effective solutions.
Energy demand is continuing to rise quickly in transport, industry, buildings and digitalization, increasing expectations that the energy transition will move further in favor of renewable resources.
The main reason renewable energy installations have accelerated in recent years has been the decline in costs, especially in solar and wind technologies, along with a sharp increase in installation speed.
Solar panels and wind turbines have become cheaper than new fossil fuel plants in many countries, shifting public and private sector investments toward these areas.
Energy security concerns have also helped accelerate renewable growth, especially after the natural gas crisis experienced in 2022.
Targets to reduce carbon emissions and large-scale production and installation capacity in major economies, especially China, also supported growth.
As a result, solar energy has become the fastest and cheapest source of added capacity and the main driver of total renewable energy growth.
Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said at the end of last year that Türkiye had entered a growth path in line with its 2035 renewable energy targets.
“2026 will be a new record year in renewables,” Bayraktar said.
As of June 18, Türkiye’s installed renewable energy capacity reached a total of 78,398 megawatts.
This includes 26,978 megawatts in solar power, 15,168 megawatts in wind power, 32,314 megawatts in hydroelectric power plants, 2,140 megawatts in bioenergy, and 1,798 megawatts in geothermal energy.
Türkiye aims to reach 120,000 megawatts of renewable installed capacity by 2035.
To reach this target, Türkiye needs to commission 8,000 to 9,000 megawatts of renewable energy-based installed capacity every year.
NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenyan farmer Yvonne Anyonyi Mumiah walks in the early morning between rows of rosemary, basil and other crops destined for European supermarkets. She once worried that transport delays or extreme heat could spoil much of her harvest, but now relies on a solar-powered cool storage service to keep her produce fresh.
The pay-per-use model offered by cold-chain company Soko Fresh charges farmers based on pounds stored, part of a trend in Africa toward using solar-powered cold storage to help prevent one of agriculture’s most persistent problems: food spoilage.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that up to 40% of food produced in Africa is lost between harvest and market, largely due to poor storage, transport and processing infrastructure.
Solar-powered, off-grid cold rooms, warehouses and cooling hubs allow farmers and traders to preserve perishable goods without relying on expensive and unreliable electricity grids. This shift is gaining momentum across Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Rwanda and South Africa.
“The biggest challenge was preserving the quality after harvest,” said Mumiah, who, like many other smallholder farmers, could not afford the roughly $30,000 upfront cost of a solar-powered cold storage unit of her own.
“You can do everything right on the farm, but if the produce is not stored properly, you lose both the product and income,” she said, noting the increased flexibility cold storage provides. “We are no longer forced to sell immediately because we fear the produce will spoil. We can wait for collection and still maintain quality.”
As food handling systems come under pressure from climate change, rising temperatures and sometimes disrupted supply chains, cooling technology is increasingly vital.
In countries such as India, China, Japan, the Netherlands and the United States, sophisticated cold-chain networks allow fresh produce to remain marketable for weeks. In many parts of Africa, however, farmers often lack access to cooling facilities and must sell their crops immediately after harvest, suffering significant losses.
The challenge is increasingly acute as temperatures rise since extreme heat accelerates spoilage of vegetables, fruits, dairy products and fish. Unreliable electricity supplies make conventional refrigeration expensive or impractical in many rural areas.
“Cold storage remains one of the missing links in Africa’s agricultural value chains,” said Emmanuel Aziebor, regional director for Africa at CLASP, a nonprofit organisation that supports the deployment of energy-efficient appliances and productive-use technologies.
“When farmers can store produce for longer, they gain access to better markets, reduce waste and increase incomes,” he said.
SOKO’S SUCCESS
Soko Fresh says it has cut spoilage rates for its customers from up to 50% to under 2%, while helping farmers earn up to 50% more per pound.
In Nigeria, companies like ColdHubs have installed solar-powered walk-in cold rooms in major agricultural markets, allowing farmers and traders to rent space daily rather than invest in expensive equipment. In Rwanda, solar-powered refrigeration is being used to support dairy cooperatives and improve milk collection. In Ethiopia, cold-chain investments are expanding to support horticultural exports, one of the country’s fastest-growing agricultural sectors.
Analysts say such innovations are becoming increasingly important as African countries seek to improve their food security while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Traditional cold storage systems often depend on diesel generators, particularly in areas with unreliable electricity. Solar-powered alternatives can reduce fuel consumption and operating costs while lowering emissions.
Yet experts argue the most important benefit may be economic rather than environmental. For decades, development efforts have focused heavily on expanding electricity access across Africa. While millions of households have gained access to power, less attention has been paid to ensuring that electricity can be used to generate income.
“We have neglected the conversation around how people can turn electricity into opportunity,” Aziebor said. “We keep extending electricity infrastructure, but unless people can use that power productively, the economic benefits never fully materialize.”
Across Africa, solar-powered irrigation systems are enabling year-round farming. Solar milling machines and processing equipment help rural communities add value to agricultural products closer to where they are grown.
Funding remains a challenge.
“The challenge today is not demonstrating that these systems work,” said Carol Koech, vice president for Africa at the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet. “It is building enough bankable projects that can attract larger pools of investment and scale across countries.”
Grants, low-interest loans and donor support can help cover upfront costs. Industry experts say attracting sufficient commercial investment remains difficult because many agricultural markets are fragmented and dominated by small-scale producers.
“These investors see emerging technologies as high risk because we lack enough proven business models with reliable returns,” said Soko Fresh CEO Denis Karema. “That makes funding for our type of projects expensive.”
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It was never supposed to be a home for anything.
A solar farm is built to make clean power, not to shelter wildlife, and a vast field of panels behind a chain link fence looks like the opposite of habitat.
So when one of California’s most endangered foxes, an animal with almost nowhere left to go, slipped onto a site like this, biologists expected it to struggle.
Instead it stayed. It denned, it hunted, it raised pups. And the real reason it did so well turned out to be far more deliberate than the feel good headline suggests.
At first a solar farm seems like the least natural place imaginable. Rows of metal. Bare ground. A locked gate.
But something changes once the construction crews leave. The noise stops, the traffic stops, and the land is left mostly undisturbed for years at a time.
In that stillness, life creeps back. Grasses and low plants spread beneath the panels, sometimes sown on purpose to hold the soil.
Insects arrive to feed on the plants. Rodents arrive to feed on the insects and the seeds.
The panels throw patches of shade that cool the ground through brutal summers. Step by step, a power plant starts to behave a little like an ecosystem, with food, cover and calm all inside one fenced square.
The animal at the centre of this is the San Joaquin kit fox, one of the smallest foxes in North America. It is a delicate, huge eared, night hunting canid found only in central California. An adult barely tips the scale at five pounds and stands about a foot tall at the shoulder.
And it is in serious trouble. Farming and sprawl have swallowed more than 90 percent of its range, leaving this federally endangered little fox with almost nowhere to live.
It needs open ground, steady prey, cover from coyotes, and many dens to move between as it dodges danger.
As the wild land vanished, conservationists were left with a hard question. With its real home nearly gone, where was this fox supposed to go?
To find out, researchers with the Endangered Species Recovery Program fitted local kit foxes with GPS collars and followed them across two large California solar farms, comparing them with foxes on nearby wild reference land.
The animals did not avoid the panels. They moved straight in.
They dug dens under the arrays, hunted the rodents living there, and raised litters of pups beneath the metal.
The numbers were striking. Reproductive success was identical, at about 87 percent on both the solar and the wild sites, and the foxes’ home ranges came out roughly the same size.
The foxes on the solar farm were not merely hanging on. By one measure the males there were slightly heavier than their wild neighbours.
Here is what the cheerful telling skips. The foxes did not simply get lucky with a friendly fence.
Almost everything that helped them was put there on purpose. The perimeter fence was made deliberately permeable, with gaps sized so a kit fox could slip through while bigger threats could not.
Crews dug artificial escape dens, kept movement corridors open, and managed the vegetation, in places by grazing sheep across the panels to keep the growth low and the prey healthy.
They also held back feral dogs, traffic speed, rubbish and poisons on the site.
The scientists who ran the work, detailed by the UC Santa Barbara Bren School, were blunt about it. The foxes came to no measurable harm because of these measures. Strip them away, and the very same site could have become a trap.
So this is not proof that solar farms are good for animals. It is proof of something more useful.
Built and run with a species in mind, a solar site can do more than feed the grid. It can leave room for life.
The same researchers added a careful warning. They still recommend against putting new solar plants on the best remaining kit fox habitat, because a managed refuge is no substitute for the wild ground itself.
The real lesson is that clean energy has to count land, not only carbon, the same tension that follows solar projects wherever they spread.
A field of panels can hide a thriving fox underneath. But only, it turns out, when people choose to design it that way.
© 2026 by Ecoportal
© 2026 by Ecoportal
Imagine, if you will, a world in which Republicans hadn’t repealed the Inflation Reduction Act through President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill.
Dream of a world in which millions of Americans still have access to health care, due to its extension of subsidized premiums for the Affordable Care Act. Domestic production of solar, wind, and battery equipment is booming, creating hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs.
The health of Americans is improving. The reduction in particulate matter caused by the burning of fossil fuels has put us on track to avoid approximately 63,000 premature deaths by 2035, and prevents up to 100,000 asthma attacks annually.
Demand for electricity is rising, but prices stabilize because renewable energy helps meet that demand, accounting for 80% of new generating capacity, since it is cheaper and cleaner than old-fashioned fossil fuels. Americans frustrated with dealing with utility monopolies have other options as rates rise. Subsidized solar panels with battery backup on homes and businesses decentralizes energy production, also protecting us in case of power outages.
In the aftermath of Helene, solar power and battery systems played a key role in keeping the lights on for the residents of Western North Carolina. Given an upsurge in interest in renewable energy, subsidies through the Inflation Reduction Act helped build critical residential and commercial infrastructure that will protect us all when the next storm comes our way.
Affordable electric vehicles are the choice of more and more Americans, which reduces our dependence on the fickle global oil market. With the Inflation Reduction Act incentives in place, we are better insulated from the inflation caused by the war in Iran. Solar energy and wind do not have to squeeze through the Strait of Hormuz.
Alas, the tax credits and incentives that were part of the Affordable Care Act are gone now. While other countries are rapidly pursuing renewables, this president has done everything he can to return this nation to reliance on fossil fuels. It’s as if he has launched a “war on renewables.”
During the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump called on fossil fuel executives to donate $1 billion to his campaign, calling it a “deal” in consideration of the tax and regulation relief to come under a Trump administration.
The oil and gas industry gave millions, and Trump was as good as his word, taking 145 actions in his first 100 days to roll back rules protecting clean air, water, and a livable climate. He has opened vast tracts of land to oil and gas drilling, and worked to revive coal mining, while calling solar and wind projects “ugly” and “disgusting,” according to the Guardian.
Mr. Trump has had nothing good to say about wind energy ever since an off-shore wind farm disrupted views from his golf clubs in Scotland. As President, he paid a French company nearly $1 billion in taxpayer money not to build a wind farm off the east coast that would have supplied electricity to New York and North Carolina. Instead, the money went to invest in a liquefied natural gas plant in Texas — so that gas could now be exported overseas.
The administration has paused permitting for all off-shore and onshore wind projects and rescinded leases for East Coast wind projects citing “national security.” The Department of the Interior effectively restricted new wind and solar projects on public lands. The IRS attempted to eliminate a commonly-used tax credit for clean energy projects, though that move was recently overturned by the courts, according to the Environmental Defense Fund.
Here in North Carolina, Duke Energy’s electric rates have risen 22% since 2020, and the utility has proposed an 18% rate hike for 2027. Surcharges for rising fuel costs are also passed along to customers.
Remember “Drill, Baby Drill”? Domestic production of oil was supposed to protect us from international price fixing and bad behavior on the part of oil producers in the Middle East. Even though U.S. daily oil production set new records in 2025 (13.9 million barrels per day) that did not protect us from skyrocketing gas and fuel prices caused by the Iran War. When prices rose, we were told, “Oil is a global market.”
The health and environmental costs, however, are local. Americans still pay higher prices, while contending with dirtier air, dwindling forests, and polluted water, along with coastal flooding and extreme weather caused by fossil-fuel driven climate change.
“Drill, baby, drill” serves nobody but the oil companies.
Opinion: As demolition continues, St. Joe’s Hospital memories remain
Opinion: Pete Hegseth wrong to compare America to Christian church
CS Chima is a writer and retired health care administrator in Asheville.
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“Not terrible compared to an almost $300 bill.”
Photo Credit: iStock
Going solar is one of the best ways to save money on home energy, especially when heavy air-conditioning use sends monthly bills soaring.
A Reddit post showed how dramatic that shift can be. A homeowner who had been using about 2,000 kilowatt-hours a month said their first bill after installing solar came in with negative energy use.
The original poster shared a photo on the subreddit r/solar showing the home’s first electric bill after the solar setup was installed.
“Wish it would show previous months which were around 2,000 kwh,” they said. “So having a negative bill is amazing! Hopefully this trend continues.”
Want to go solar but not sure who to trust? EnergySage has your back with free and transparent quotes from fully vetted providers in your area.
To get started, just answer a few questions about your home — no phone number required. Within a day or two, EnergySage will email you the best options for your needs, and their expert advisers can help you compare quotes and pick a winner.
That result still came with a caveat: Producing more electricity than you use does not always wipe out every utility charge.
When a commenter asked, “How much is your bill when you’re negative for the month?” the original poster replied, “Unfortunately still 34 because of interconnection fee.”
The homeowner later added: “Yea i knew that going in, its actually $46 a month, so i oversized my system because they let me buy that rate down. … But still not terrible compared to an almost $300 bill.”
Similar experiences came up elsewhere in the thread, including one person who said a May bill was “$23.85” while charging two EVs and running pumps with a 9.6-kilowatt solar array and 30 kilowatt-hours of batteries.
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For households dealing with rising electricity prices, that kind of predictability can make budgeting much easier.
The conversation also pointed to a common frustration for solar customers: Even when a home generates ample electricity, base service and interconnection fees can keep a bill from disappearing entirely.
“That number has slowly crept up over the years as the power company keeps screwing customers more and more,” one user said.
If you’re interested in benefitting from solar panels like the OP, consider checking out EnergySage. Its free tools can help you find competitive quotes from vetted installers and help you save up to $10,000 when adding panels to your home.
💡Go deep on the latest news and trends shaping the residential solar landscape
But if upfront costs are prohibitive, consider solar subscription programs, like the Palmetto LightReach program, which lets you get panels on your home for no money down and can lower your utility rate by up to 20%.
Pairing solar panels with efficient electric appliances can push utility costs even lower. Adding battery storage to a solar setup can protect your home during outages, save money on energy, and even go off-grid. Batteries can also help store extra solar power for use at night or during peak-rate hours.
Also, check out Merino for single-room, ultra-efficient HVAC systems that can help you cut down on utility bills, especially during the summer months. Merino’s units are installed incredibly quickly (in under an hour) and can provide both heating and cooling.
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“Being in my small garden, the mental health benefits are the best!”
Photo Credit: Reddit
One Christmas present that took years to materialize is making spouses around the country jealous.
A man on Reddit shared how his wife had long wanted a backyard greenhouse. That dream became a reality on one December 25, and his online post about it has been drawing warm reactions online.
The proud husband shared photos of an 8-by-16-foot cedar greenhouse, saying it fulfilled a wish his wife had been talking about for years.
“I think it’s positively benefited her mental health so much as well as made her super excited to come home from work everyday,” he said, noting the project has meant more than just better gardening results.
When asked about the build, the original poster said, “We assembled it together over the weekend. Probably took about 10 or so hours total.” He later noted that the landscaping, lighting, and fan were added afterward.
The Veikous greenhouse is set up in southern Ohio’s zone 6 climate and includes raised beds, solar-powered lights, and a solar exhaust fan.
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The couple said they are beginners and still learning, but they have already grown tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, peppers, lettuce, and potatoes.
Much of the discussion on the post centered on the appeal of home gardening beyond the harvest itself. Commenters described it as a way to step away from screens, spend time outdoors, and care for something tangible, while also arguing that the cost of growing food drops after the initial setup.
“It’s only more expensive in the beginning,” as one commenter put it. “I’ll die on this hill. Once you’re established it’s so much cheaper.”
On the practical side, the OP noted that lettuce “grows super fast” and that the plants they chose “have all been very easy.” The greenhouse’s solar-powered add-ons also came up as a benefit.
The response to the gift was overwhelmingly positive.
“Wow,” wrote one commenter. “I am so jealous.”
“There’s just something so calming and satisfying about it!” another added, describing the mental health benefits of growing fresh produce.
A third commented, “Being in my small garden, the mental health benefits are the best!”
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Photo of solar array courtesy of Delaware Electric
Photo of solar array courtesy of Delaware Electric
A trade group’s mapping study reports that solar operations occupy only a tiny portion of Delaware’s land area.
The study from the Solar Industries Association runs counter to arguments that solar farms threaten productive farmland in Delaware and elsewhere
That claim contributed to Kent County's decision to impose zoning restrictions. Similar concerns have been raised in Sussex County, which is losing farmland to residential development.
Some farmers have raised concerns over pending solar projects, while others are adding solar to cut their energy bills. Larger arrays feed electricity into the grid in a state that produces only a small percentage of its own power.
Solar projects face zoning, permitting, and financing issues that prevent many proposals from coming to fruition. Grid operator PJM has been criticized for moving too slowly to approve projects and has made changes aimed at fast-tracking “shovel-ready” proposals.
The Trump administration has been unhappy with large-scale solar projects, citing the loss of farmland, affordability and other claims.
According to a release, the association’s mapping tool comes “amid Farm Bill negotiations in Congress and growing misinformation and targeted scrutiny of solar development and agricultural land use.”
The Trump Administration has opposed solar and wind power by arguing that renewables occupy too much farmland. After unfavorable court decisions, the administration abandoned a freeze on solar and wind projects.
The association noted that farmland with solar arrays can support dual use by serving as pastureland or pollinator habitats. It also noted that abandoned farmland could accommodate solar farms.
Farmers are choosing solar as a long-term revenue source that keeps their properties in business, the group argues.
“America depends on our land to grow our food, build our communities, and power our lives,” said SEIA’s new CEO Tim Pawlenty. “Responsible land use means balancing all of those needs. This map helps provide important context by showing that solar and agriculture can thrive together. Solar development uses a very small amount of farmland compared to many other common land uses, while also delivering affordable energy, local tax revenue, and reliable income for farmers and landowners.”
Pawlenty is a former Republican governor of Minnesota.
Despite its compact size and the large percentage of its land devoted to agriculture, Solar farms occupy less than one-tenth of one percent of farmland in Delaware.
In Delaware and all other states, solar uses only 0.5% of prime farmland.
Delaware stats
Total land – 1,942.8 square miles.
USDA prime farmland in the state – 1,127.0 square miles or 58% of the total land.
Total solar area – 0.9 sq mi, 0.7 square miles (0.06%) overlap with prime farmland
Total Golf Course Area – 12.1 square miles. Golf courses use 11.7 times more prime farmland than utility-scale solar.
2014–2024 Suburban Sprawl 34.2 square miles.
The interactive map is available here.
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“I’m skeptical.”
Photo Credit: iStock
A Reddit complaint about a changed solar layout is attracting attention after a homeowner said Sunrun reduced the system size in its “final design” while leaving the projected annual energy output unchanged.
The issue centers on two versions of the same project that the homeowner described on r/solar: an initial 51-panel system rated at 20.91 kilowatts peak power and a later redesign with 38 panels totaling 15.58 kWp.
Even with the smaller setup designed for more optimal placement and efficiency, the revised plan still estimated the exact same 17,005 kilowatt-hours of yearly production.
The new proposal seeks to achieve that mainly through moving more panels to the south-facing side of the home while proposing the removal of some trees that would have been casting shade in that area, which are legitimate ways to increase production, though the poster seemed particularly skeptical that the exact same 17,005 kWh of yearly production was proposed despite major changes.
Describing the change, the poster said it showed “about a 24% decrease in panels with supposedly the same production” and added, “I’m skeptical.”
They said they asked Sunrun for PVWatts or Aurora reports, an explanation of the shading assumptions, and the “exact per-kilowatt-hour ‘Performance Guarantee Refund Rate’ explicitly designated for my contract in Exhibit A.”
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These wins prove fighting for our planet is worth it
They also wrote: “I do not consent to proceeding with the revised design without this supporting documentation.”
When a solar system is sized well, it can be a meaningful way to lower electricity costs over time. That can be especially useful for households with higher power demand, including those that charge electric vehicles. The OP in this situation said they have three EVs, which is why they need higher output.
But if a company changes the design after a contract is signed, the savings a homeowner expected may no longer line up with the original proposal.
Much of the discussion centered on the missing support for the production estimate. Output projections can change based on panel wattage, shading, roof layout, and inverter settings, commenters noted. Even so, they said a large reduction in panel count combined with the same annual output estimate was a warning sign.
Most commenters said the homeowner was right to be cautious, even though the proposed changes with more south-facing panels and tree removal would legitimately increase the efficiency of power production per panel. Most maintained that solar was very much a smart upgrade but that it’s smart to compare different quotes carefully to be sure you’re getting the best deal.
Referencing the tree removal, a user wrote, “Cutting trees to increase production is not a strategy I’d prefer. Cutting shade trees means your air conditioning load will also go up.” This is true during the summer, though a customer located where most months are below room temperature outside could also gain more passive home heating from sunlight, too, in addition to more sunlight to capture on the panels to redirect into an all-season heat pump.
They added, “SunRun has gotten bad reviews for predatory practices, stick with the original design or have them cancel your contract.” It’s worth noting that Sunrun has plenty of good reviews online, too, and that most major nationwide companies eventually gain many customers with both positive and negative experiences.
Another commenter questioned the lack of technical backup, saying, “If the salesman is unfamiliar with PVWatts, Aurora they are not going to give you any useful feedback.”
They also said a drop from 51 to 38 panels with the same production “seems implausible unless you have a lot of tree shading,” leading to the request for supporting documentation being so worthwhile. Doing so, theoretically, could lead to identifying an error somewhere, since it would be rare to see such notably different designs yield the same exact annual power production estimate, even if the 38-panel design had more optimal placement.
A third commenter said some system adjustments can influence output estimates but also found the identical figure suspicious: “You can tweak the inverter ratio and that might have gotten them in the same production range but the exact same production is kinda funny.”
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Workers from Jancewicz & Son construction begin work, which will ultimately result in solar panels on the roof of St. James Episcopal Church in Keene, on Tuesday, June 9. The panels are one step St. James is taking to lower its carbon footprint and to make the church more financially and environmentally sustainable.
The sanctuary of St. James Episcopal Church in Keene on Tuesday, June 9. A solar project at the church is part of a long-running effort to make sustainability-driven upgrades, according to Rev. Elsa Worth.
City of Keene, Housing and Cheshire County reporter
Workers from Jancewicz & Son construction begin work, which will ultimately result in solar panels on the roof of St. James Episcopal Church in Keene, on Tuesday, June 9. The panels are one step St. James is taking to lower its carbon footprint and to make the church more financially and environmentally sustainable.
Workers from Jancewicz & Son construction begin work, which will ultimately result in solar panels on the roof of St. James Episcopal Church in Keene, on Tuesday, June 9. The panels are one step St. James is taking to lower its carbon footprint and to make the church more financially and environmentally sustainable.
The sanctuary of St. James Episcopal Church in Keene on Tuesday, June 9. A solar project at the church is part of a long-running effort to make sustainability-driven upgrades, according to Rev. Elsa Worth.
Putting solar panels on a historic building isn’t easy. But as technology advances and regulators adapt to the growing need for renewable energy, solar may be a way for historic structures to improve both their environmental impact and their financial position. In some cases, it could also mean old buildings last longer.
In Keene, a historic church is putting that theory to the test, potentially paving the way for other historic buildings in the Monadnock Region to a more sustainable future.
The St. James test case
Going solar has clear anticipated benefits for the small parish of St. James Episcopal Church on West Street. It aligns with the church’s “creation care” goals, and is expected to save the parish money on energy costs in a time when fewer Granite Staters are going to church and many churches are struggling to cover expenses.
St. James wanted to install the panels on the church’s south-facing roof, overlooking Gilbo Avenue. This portion of the roof sits on the parish house that was built in 1899 — the primary church structure was built in 1863. The spot does not obstruct the main facade, which faces north along West Street, and gets ample sunlight.
But there were two obstacles: first, the existing infrastructure, a dated slate roof. Although solar companies are experimenting with installing arrays directly onto slate roofs, this is rare; it’s much easier to install solar on standing seam metal roofing.
The second hurdle for St. James, which is in Keene’s Downtown Historic District, was historical regulations. Many of the oldest buildings in New England sport slate roofs, and any changes to them are strictly regulated for historic preservation reasons.
While a new metal roof is recommended for solar installations, removing the original slate tiles on historic structures is not recommended in the city’s land code.
The tiles above St. James’ parish house are over 100 years old.
And when the city’s Historic District Commission considered the church’s roof replacement proposal last month, some members showed initial skepticism because the roof was still in good condition. But the solar project likely would not have gone through had the slate roof remained, said David Webb, a commercial sales lead with ReVision Energy. The company is a New England-based solar installer contracted with the church for this project.
A standing seam metal roof, Webb explained, is optimal because the panels can be clamped to the seam, avoiding roof damage when the panels are eventually replaced. Installing solar panels over century-old slate tiles requires cutting several holes in the tiles, which can cause leakage and further degradation over time, Webb said.
“If the slate was to stay, then in 40 years when you go to pull off the solar, there’s now a bunch of holes in the slate,” Webb said. “You’ve got to address the slate [damage] at that time.”
Another issue for St. James’ project was a chimney the church needed removed to make space for the panels. The city’s historic preservation rules allow removal only if there is a structural or economic reason to do so.
But at the May 20 historic commission meeting, church members made a different type of economic appeal — one that demonstrates how solar could become a mechanism for financial stability as well as environmental sustainability for historic structures.
The appeal focused on how solar panels and a new roof will increase the church’s longevity. Church members said solar panels would save the congregation over $300,000 in the panels’ 40-year life span. Replacing the slate also guards the church from potential lawsuits that come from falling tiles injuring someone. Those potential savings and avoided costs are a big deal for the small church.
“When things break, we have to fix them, but we also maintain our roof to a place where it’s not failing,” said Edie Fifield, a member of the church’s environmentally focused creation care team. “Our financial hardship … is looking at the future sustainability of this building and serving the public in the best way.”
Fifield said replacing the roof and adding solar panels is a proactive approach that will protect the longevity of the building and the congregation that maintains it.
After lengthy debate, the commission unanimously approved the solar project, including the roof replacement and chimney removal. The historic slate roofing on other portions of the building will remain intact.
The solar panel upgrade, now under construction, is part of a long-running effort to make sustainability-driven upgrades, said St. James’ Rev. Elsa Worth. She said caring for the environment is a core piece of the Episcopal faith.
Fifield has worked on several of the church’s sustainability projects.
“This is creation, and we are here to be partners with creation in all sorts of ways,” Fifield added. “We depend on creation for our life, for our sustenance. The water and the air and the warmth and the soil is important to our very survival, and so it’s a heart-based initiative for us.”
Preservation for the future
The St. James solar project is one example of work that benefits both historic preservation and environmental sustainability, rather than seeing the past and future as in opposition.
Reusing and retrofitting existing buildings is an effective, sustainable practice in comparison to demolishing and rebuilding something new in its place, said James Lindberg, a senior policy director at the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Lindberg worked on a 2011 study that examined the carbon impact demolition and rebuilding has on a building versus reusing and retrofitting. The former has a large carbon impact, the study found, because of the emissions produced during the manufacturing and transporting of materials.
Reusing and retrofitting a building is more sustainable because it lengthens its lifespan and avoids emission production that comes with rebuilding, according to Lindberg. The building is even more sustainable when its energy systems are upgraded to solar panels, he said.
“There’s these two kinds of carbon emissions from the building sector — embodied in the materials and operating from the power that goes to run them,” Lindberg said. “If you reuse, you’re reducing the embodied impact, and if you retrofit, you’re reducing the operating impact, and those two together [is] a great combo.”
Lindberg added that investing in green energy for a building, including historic buildings, means it won’t be left behind. Retrofitting older buildings today ensures continued use tomorrow.
“More and more we’re getting used to seeing solar panels on buildings of all kinds … seeing a solar panel array on an older building, it’s exciting,” Lindberg said. “We can bring this great old building into the future and keep it around longer.”
Solar innovation
Historic buildings looking to the future will be aided by new technology coming online that could make adding solar to all kinds of structures simpler.
One example is building-integrated photovoltaic, or BIPV, systems — a solar innovation that could better integrate solar energy production and historic preservation efforts, according to a 2025 study on the subject.
According to the study from a Madrid university, BIPV systems integrate photovoltaic solar cells into the building’s exterior rather than attaching them. The study examines heritage sites around Europe, particularly historic churches, castles and homes in Switzerland, Italy and Spain, that use BIPV systems to generate solar energy.
BIPV is still an emerging technology and has not been used extensively in the U.S. However, the Department of Energy has stated it is studying the technology and is looking at ways to expand its use.
Rev. Worth said she hopes the project at St. James, and the support it ultimately received from the historic commission, are inspiring to other organizations.
“I can say that the moment that we had a unanimous ‘yes’ was the moment that made everything worthwhile,” Worth said. “I think that we’re really grateful that we’re going to be able to do this, and we hope that it encourages other organizations.”
Mason Rouser can be reached at 603-283-0725 or mrouser@keenesentinel.com.
City of Keene, Housing and Cheshire County reporter
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JinkoSolar announced on June 19 that its N-type TOPCon perovskite-silicon tandem cell has reached a certified power conversion efficiency of 34.82%, surpassing the theoretical upper limit that has constrained single-junction silicon solar technology for more than six decades. The certification comes from the Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. For solar energy developers and utility planners tracking the commercialization race for next-generation photovoltaics, the result signals that the efficiency gap between laboratory tandem cells and today’s mass-market silicon panels may be closing on a platform that is already manufacturing-compatible — not just theoretically possible.
The announcement marks JinkoSolar’s 33rd world record in solar cell efficiency or module power output and beats the company’s own previous tandem result of 34.76%, set in December 2025.
The Shockley-Queisser limit, first calculated by William Shockley and Hans-Joachim Queisser in 1961, sets a maximum theoretical efficiency of approximately 33.7% for any solar cell using a single semiconductor junction. The ceiling exists because any single material can only absorb photons within a defined energy range; photons above that range lose their excess energy as heat, and photons below it pass through entirely. For the last 65 years, this limit has defined the outer boundary of what conventional silicon solar technology can achieve.
JinkoSolar’s 34.82% result clears that limit by design, not by incremental refinement of silicon. A perovskite-silicon tandem cell stacks two distinct absorber layers: a perovskite top cell that captures high-energy photons from the blue end of the spectrum, and a silicon bottom cell that captures lower-energy photons toward the infrared. Together, the two layers harvest a much wider slice of the solar spectrum than either material can manage alone. The theoretical maximum for a two-junction perovskite-silicon tandem is approximately 43%, meaning the technology still has substantial headroom above today’s records.
At 34.82%, JinkoSolar’s cell comfortably clears the single-junction ceiling by more than a full percentage point — a margin that no standard silicon panel can close, regardless of manufacturing quality.
JinkoSolar attributed the efficiency gain to four interlocking innovations in cell architecture, all applied to the interface between the perovskite and silicon layers — the most technically demanding part of a tandem device.
The first is a dual-layer composite passivation contact structure for the N-type TOPCon bottom cell. TOPCon stands for Tunnel Oxide Passivated Contact: a silicon cell architecture in which an ultrathin silicon oxide layer, typically 1 to 2 nanometers thick, is deposited on the cell’s rear surface and covered by a doped polycrystalline silicon layer. Majority charge carriers pass through the oxide via quantum tunneling while minority carriers are blocked, substantially reducing recombination losses at the contact surface and boosting open-circuit voltage. The dual-layer extension of this approach applies passivation across a larger portion of the contact geometry to reduce energy loss further.
The second is multidimensional interface passivation technology, which addresses defects at the critical boundary between the perovskite top cell and the silicon bottom cell. This is where charge carriers generated in the perovskite layer must transfer to the recombination junction between the two subcells; defects at this interface act as recombination centers that reduce the current the tandem can deliver.
The third innovation involves gradient crystallization kinetics control — a technique for managing the rate and spatial uniformity with which the perovskite layer crystallizes during fabrication. Perovskite films that crystallize too quickly or unevenly develop grain boundaries and defects that reduce efficiency and long-term stability. Controlling the crystallization gradient produces a more uniform, lower-defect film.
The fourth is enhanced optical coupling and light management, which optimizes how incoming photons are routed into the correct absorber layer rather than reflected from the cell surface or scattered away from the active region.
The work was conducted in collaboration with Soochow University.
Read more: Hanwha Solutions Cuts Rights Offering to $1.14 Billion, Plans U.S. Venture Fund Sale
The most commercially significant aspect of JinkoSolar’s result is not the efficiency number itself but the platform it runs on.
JinkoSolar was the first photovoltaic manufacturer globally to achieve large-scale mass production of N-type TOPCon technology, and it has continued to invest in both TOPCon iteration and perovskite research in parallel. That matters for the commercialization timeline because the dominant alternative bottom cell architecture for tandem cells — the silicon heterojunction (SHJ) format used in LONGi’s competing 34.85% NREL-certified world record — requires different deposition equipment and is manufactured on different production lines than the PERC and TOPCon cells that currently dominate global silicon manufacturing capacity.
A TOPCon-based tandem, if it can be scaled without major efficiency loss, could in principle be integrated into the manufacturing lines that already run at gigawatt scale in China and increasingly elsewhere. An SHJ-based tandem cannot. That architectural distinction does not guarantee JinkoSolar a faster path to commercialization — there are significant unsolved engineering challenges common to all perovskite-silicon tandems — but it removes one category of capital expenditure from the transition.
LONGi currently holds the globally recognized benchmark: its 34.85% was certified by the United States National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in April 2025, the internationally recognized independent testing authority for solar cell efficiency. JinkoSolar’s 34.82% result was certified by the Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences — a nationally accredited certification body, but one that does not carry the same international recognition as NREL. The distinction is relevant for international buyers and investors evaluating competing claims. JinkoSolar’s figure is independently certified; it is not self-reported. But international procurement decisions typically require NREL or Fraunhofer CalLab verification to be treated as globally comparable benchmark figures.
Oxford PV, the UK-based company widely credited with pioneering the commercial perovskite-silicon tandem concept, operates the world’s first commercial-scale tandem production line in Brandenburg an der Havel, Germany, and achieved 26.9% module efficiency (Fraunhofer CalLab-certified). Its cell-level record is lower than either Chinese competitor, but it leads on module-level performance and manufacturing readiness — the gap between small-area cell records and full-module efficiency remains one of the defining unsolved problems for the entire industry, with 2 to 8 percentage points typically lost when a lab cell design is scaled to commercial panel dimensions.
Laboratory records measure what a small-area cell can achieve under controlled conditions. Commercially viable mass production requires solving three additional problems that JinkoSolar’s June 19 announcement does not address.
The first is stability. The 25-year warranty that silicon panels carry is supported by decades of field data and roughly 175,000 hours of demonstrated operational lifetime. Perovskite cells are sensitive to moisture, heat, and ultraviolet exposure in ways that silicon is not, and the longest publicly reported operational data for perovskite-based tandems is approximately 1,000 hours — a gap of more than a factor of 100 relative to commercial requirements. Academic reviews identify the lack of standardized long-term testing protocols and operational stability as the primary commercialization barriers.
The second is lead toxicity. Most high-efficiency perovskite solar cells use lead-based absorbers, which offer the best combination of bandgap tunability and electronic performance. Lead-based perovskite cells present environmental risks associated with lead leakage during manufacturing, installation damage, or end-of-life disposal — risks that have driven regulatory interest in the European Union and several US states, and that researchers are actively working to address through encapsulation strategies and lead-free material alternatives. No commercially deployed tandem product has yet resolved this issue at module scale.
The third is the module scaling gap. The 34.82% result was achieved on a small-area cell — the standard format for laboratory records — not on a full-size commercial panel. Oxford PV’s module efficiency of 26.9% illustrates how much efficiency is lost between a record cell and a shippable product; for JinkoSolar to commercialize its tandem technology, it would need to close most of that gap while simultaneously meeting durability requirements at scale. No commercial timeline has been announced.
Read more: How Perovskites Reach Record Solar Efficiency Yet Face Degradation in Everyday Use
JinkoSolar is competing in a field that includes LONGi, Oxford PV, Hanwha Q CELLS, Trina Solar, and a growing list of research institutions. Industry analysts at PatSnap note that if Chinese Tier 1 manufacturers — including LONGi, JinkoSolar, and Trina Solar — simultaneously enter mass production of tandem cells in 2026 or 2027, rapid cost reduction could commoditize the technology before European players establish manufacturing scale. JinkoSolar’s earlier supply chain history also merits brief note: US Customs and Border Protection detained JinkoSolar shipments in 2021 over forced labor concerns under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, and in May 2023, federal agents searched JinkoSolar’s Jacksonville, Florida manufacturing plant, though the Department of Commerce subsequently found no tariff circumvention in August 2023. Those enforcement dynamics remain part of the commercial calculus for buyers evaluating Chinese solar equipment.
For now, JinkoSolar’s 33rd world record demonstrates two things: that the Shockley-Queisser ceiling is no longer a practical barrier for tandem cell technology, and that clearing it on a TOPCon platform — one that runs at industrial scale today — is more commercially relevant than clearing it in the abstract. Whether the company can translate the 34.82% lab result into a commercial product that delivers comparable efficiency, 25-year durability, and regulatory compliance across lead-toxicity and supply chain standards is the engineering and regulatory work that remains.
What does the Shockley-Queisser limit mean for solar panels?
The Shockley-Queisser limit is the theoretical maximum efficiency of a solar cell that uses a single semiconductor material — approximately 33.7% for silicon. It arises because any single material can only absorb photons within a specific energy range; light above that range loses its excess energy as heat, and light below it passes through. Perovskite-silicon tandem cells bypass this limit by stacking two absorber layers that together cover a wider portion of the solar spectrum, enabling efficiencies above 33.7%.
Why does the certification source matter for JinkoSolar’s record?
JinkoSolar’s 34.82% result was certified by the Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology under China’s Academy of Sciences, while LONGi’s competing 34.85% record was certified by the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). NREL and Germany’s Fraunhofer CalLab are the two internationally recognized certification bodies whose measurements are treated as globally comparable benchmarks by international buyers and investors. Chinese certification bodies are nationally accredited and technically rigorous, but international procurement decisions typically require NREL or Fraunhofer CalLab verification to be treated as equivalent benchmarks.
When will perovskite solar panels be commercially available?
No major manufacturer, including JinkoSolar, has announced a commercial timeline for perovskite-silicon tandem panels. The technology faces three unresolved barriers before it can be sold with the same 25-year warranties as conventional silicon: long-term stability (demonstrated perovskite lifetimes remain roughly 100 times shorter than silicon’s commercial standard), lead toxicity regulations that affect manufacturing and disposal, and the module scaling gap, where efficiency drops significantly when a record-setting small-area cell is produced at the size of a commercial panel. Industry analysts expect initial commercial deployment of tandem technology no earlier than 2027 to 2028 at limited scale.
What makes TOPCon a commercially important bottom cell for tandem solar?
TOPCon, or Tunnel Oxide Passivated Contact, is the silicon cell architecture that JinkoSolar and several other large manufacturers already run at gigawatt scale. Unlike the silicon heterojunction (SHJ) architecture used in LONGi’s competing record cells, TOPCon manufacturing is compatible with the production lines currently dominating global silicon solar capacity. If a perovskite top cell can be reliably deposited on a TOPCon bottom cell at scale, the transition to tandem production could require less capital expenditure than building an entirely new SHJ manufacturing base.
ⓒ 2026 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
With Intersolar Europe 2026 opening in Munich on June 23, Shenzhen Washi Energy Co., Ltd. — which sells under the WattCycle brand — announced on June 20 a new all-in-one balcony solar storage system that the company says sets a capacity and power record for the compact plug-in residential segment. The system offers up to 10 kWh of storage and a bidirectional power output of 5 kW, a specification combination the company claims has never before appeared in a single plug-and-play balcony-format battery unit. For the roughly 4 million European households with balcony solar installations — and millions more evaluating one — the announcement represents a meaningful expansion of what this category can do, though no price has been disclosed and no independent security audit of the hardware exists.
Balcony solar systems — the plug-in photovoltaic setups popularized in Germany as Balkonkraftwerke — have historically operated within tight constraints: panel output capped at 800 watts under German regulation, and battery storage options limited to 1–5 kWh with modest discharge rates. A 2–5 kWh balcony battery typically covers evening household loads but cannot export meaningful power back to the grid.
WattCycle’s new all-in-one system targets a different ceiling. Available in two bidirectional power configurations — 2.5 kW and 5 kW — with storage capacities up to 10 kWh (specifically, 10,240 Wh rated), the system allows the battery to not only charge from solar panels or the grid but also discharge energy back into the household AC bus or, where local tariff structures permit, back to the utility grid. The Bluetti Balco 500 — a recent competing entry — peaks at 3.68 kW bidirectional output per unit. Hoymiles HiBattery stacks can reach higher total storage through multiple paired units, but with lower combined output power. WattCycle’s claim of a first 5 kW + 10 kWh single-unit configuration in the compact balcony segment appears credible based on publicly available competitor specifications, though the company’s own market research underlies the claim and no independent body has confirmed it.
The system connects to existing balcony or rooftop installations through a dedicated microinverter interface, requiring no major modifications to the existing solar setup. Details of the full product specification were published in the company’s June 20 press release via GlobeNewswire. An integrated AC charging port allows the battery to charge directly from the grid, and the system supports both grid-connected and fully off-grid operation. An integrated heating function maintains battery performance in cold climates, which is operationally relevant for northern European markets where balcony solar has seen some of its fastest growth.
Understanding why 5 kW bidirectional output is noteworthy requires understanding how the system is built. WattCycle uses an AC-coupled architecture with a three-port design — a microinverter input port, an AC output port, and a bidirectional grid connection port. In AC coupling, the battery system connects to the home’s alternating-current bus rather than directly to the solar panels’ direct-current output. This means the battery’s internal inverter must handle power conversion in both directions: converting AC from the grid or solar microinverter into DC for storage, and converting that stored DC back into AC for household use or grid export.
AC coupling carries a tradeoff: each conversion step introduces losses — typically 2–5% per step — that DC-coupled systems avoid by routing solar DC directly to battery DC. But AC coupling offers a critical practical advantage: the battery unit integrates with any existing microinverter or solar panel system without rewiring the solar side. For Europe’s millions of balcony solar users who already have microinverters installed, a plug-compatible AC-coupled unit is what makes genuine add-on storage possible.
The system also integrates MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking) charging technology. MPPT continuously samples the voltage-current curve of connected solar panels and adjusts the electrical load presented to the panels to extract maximum available power across varying light intensities and temperatures. While microinverters already perform per-panel MPPT on the AC side, WattCycle’s MPPT layer operates on the battery charging side, optimizing how much of the AC-converted solar power gets stored versus used immediately.
Achieving 5 kW bidirectional flow in a compact form factor requires a high-capacity bidirectional inverter capable of efficiently handling both AC-to-DC conversion for charging and DC-to-AC conversion for discharge at that power level simultaneously. This is meaningfully more engineering-intensive than a unidirectional inverter of similar size, which is part of why this specification has not previously appeared in the balcony-format segment.
The commercial case for a 5 kW bidirectional output only becomes fully apparent in the context of where European electricity pricing is heading. Germany mandated that all electricity suppliers offer dynamic tariffs — rates that change every 30 to 60 minutes based on wholesale spot market conditions — under §41a of the Energy Industry Act (EnWG), effective 2025. The practical consequence is significant: Germany recorded 457 hours of negative wholesale electricity prices in 2024, up from 301 in 2023, driven by renewable energy oversupply during midday solar generation peaks. Negative-price hours are periods when the grid effectively pays consumers to take electricity.
A battery system connected to a dynamic tariff has a direct incentive structure: charge during negative-price or low-price hours, discharge during high-price evening peaks. A published peer-reviewed analysis in the journal Energy Policy (Lorenz, Bayer, Pruckner, Staake, and Hopf; February 2026; DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2025.114952), based on data from 448 households, found that dynamic tariffs yielded 12.7% higher net financial gains for residential battery storage systems compared with fixed tariffs on average. Perfect day-ahead price forecasting increased profits by an additional 6% over rule-based methods. What that study documented in the research context, WattCycle’s 5 kW bidirectional grid connection brings to the balcony-format segment: the electrical capacity to move meaningful energy quantities in and out of the grid fast enough to capture the spread between low-price and high-price hours.
A standard 800W balcony inverter cannot export at a rate that makes dynamic-tariff arbitrage economically meaningful. A 5 kW grid connection changes that calculation. It is the difference between a battery that stores solar energy for personal use and a battery that actively participates in the residential energy market.
Whether European households can legally export at 5 kW under balcony solar regulations is a question the product announcement does not fully resolve. Germany’s 800W grid feed-in limit applies specifically to Balkonkraftwerk systems under the simplified plug-in solar regulatory category. A 5 kW grid-connected system would fall under standard residential photovoltaic installation rules, requiring different registration and potentially a smart meter and grid operator notification. The press release does not specify which regulatory category the system will be marketed under, or whether the 5 kW configuration is intended primarily for markets with looser grid feed-in constraints. Buyers should verify this with their local grid operator before purchase.
The WattCycle system includes an AI-based energy management platform that automates charge and discharge scheduling. Research from energy analytics firm Exnaton found that only roughly 2–5% of consumers actively and consistently optimize their energy usage around dynamic price signals. The remainder experience what analysts call “engagement fatigue” — initial enthusiasm followed by reversion to passive consumption. Automated home energy management systems that respond directly to dynamic price signals without user intervention are therefore not an optional convenience layer. They are a prerequisite for realizing the financial benefit of a dynamic tariff contract for the majority of residential users.
WattCycle’s AI platform factors in time-of-use electricity pricing and household demand forecasting to schedule charging and discharging without requiring manual input. No technical documentation of the AI layer’s architecture, training data, or forecast methodology has been publicly released. The claim that the system “significantly enhances overall system efficiency” comes from the company’s own press release. No independent test results validating the AI energy management performance were available at the time of writing.
WattCycle has not disclosed a retail price for the balcony storage system in Europe, nor has it announced distribution partnerships for the European market. Both will presumably be revealed at Intersolar Europe 2026, where the company will exhibit at Booth C4.251 in Hall C4 from June 23–25.
Several performance considerations common to systems in this category are worth noting before purchase. AC-coupled architectures carry conversion losses of roughly 2–5% per step that DC-coupled competitors avoid; for a system cycling daily through charge and discharge, this reduces total round-trip efficiency. Cold-weather performance for LiFePO4 cells degrades below roughly 0°C — the integrated heating function addresses this but adds parasitic power draw. LiFePO4 cells are rated for 2,500–6,000 charge cycles, suggesting a lifespan of 10–16 years at daily use, which is the timeframe over which the economics of dynamic-tariff arbitrage pay out. No warranty terms have been publicly released for this specific product.
The “world’s first 5 kW + 10 kWh” claim is self-reported. WattCycle’s press release cites “the company’s market research” as the basis for this characterization. No independent market analysis or certification body has confirmed the claim.
WattCycle’s products are manufactured by Shenzhen Washi Energy Co., Ltd., a company headquartered in Shenzhen, China. The AI energy management system in the new balcony unit collects household energy usage data — including charge and discharge schedules, solar generation patterns, grid interaction timing, and consumption profiles. Users who connect the system to the companion app share operational data with servers controlled by a Chinese-domiciled company.
Three laws of the People’s Republic of China create a legal obligation that European buyers should understand before purchasing this or any other internet-connected energy device made by a Chinese company.
China’s National Intelligence Law (2017), Article 7, states: “All organizations and citizens shall support, assist, and cooperate with national intelligence work in accordance with law.” This provision applies to all Chinese entities, including those with overseas operations. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security characterized this law in a 2020 advisory as creating a legal obligation for Chinese entities to turn over data collected abroad and domestically to Chinese intelligence services. Legal scholars debate the enforcement scope of Article 7 — China Law Translate’s Jeremy Daum has written that the provision lacks a specific enforcement mechanism and may be narrower in practice than critics assert — but the statutory obligation exists and cannot be waived by a company’s privacy policy.
China’s Cybersecurity Law (2017) requires network operators to store user data within China and to provide government access to that data on request. China’s Data Security Law (2021) extends similar access requirements to data-processing organizations, covering the type of energy usage data that AI energy management systems generate.
No independent security audit of WattCycle’s products has been published. No backdoor or surveillance capability has been identified in WattCycle hardware specifically. A Reuters investigation from May 2025 reported that U.S. experts found undisclosed communication devices — including cellular radios — in Chinese-made solar inverters and batteries from multiple Chinese suppliers over a nine-month review period. WattCycle was not named in that report, but the category of hardware — Chinese-made, grid-connected energy storage with embedded software and connectivity — is precisely the category reviewed.
What buyers can do: network segmentation — placing the device on a dedicated isolated local area network (VLAN) or IoT subnet — limits the data the device can transmit without disrupting its primary function. Disabling the companion app and operating the device in offline mode eliminates app-layer data transmission but may disable dynamic-tariff scheduling and remote monitoring. No mitigation fully eliminates the structural legal risk created by China’s intelligence and data laws, which bind the manufacturer regardless of server location, app design, or the company’s own stated privacy practices. The absence of a published independent security audit for this product should be treated as an open question, not a clean bill of health.
The balcony system is the headline product at Intersolar Europe 2026, but Shenzhen Washi Energy Co., Ltd. will also exhibit two other products at Booth C4.251. A 48V, 628Ah home battery storage unit offers 32.15 kWh of capacity for larger residential photovoltaic installations, targeting homeowners with full rooftop systems rather than balcony users. The company will also show a compact 12V, 314Ah LiFePO4 under-seat battery measuring 320 × 290 × 190 mm, designed for camper vans and extended off-grid travel. Shenzhen Washi Energy Co., Ltd. has sold energy storage products in over 60 countries and regions under the WattCycle brand; the company’s manufacturing history traces to 2009. Intersolar Europe, the world’s largest trade fair for the solar industry, runs June 23–25 at Messe München, with more than 2,600 exhibitors and over 107,000 professional visitors expected.
What is an AC-coupled balcony solar battery and why does it matter for apartments?
An AC-coupled battery connects to a home’s existing alternating-current circuit rather than directly to solar panels’ direct-current output. This design allows the battery to integrate with any existing balcony solar microinverter without rewiring the solar side, making it genuinely plug-compatible for apartment dwellers who already have a balcony solar system installed. The tradeoff is slightly lower round-trip efficiency — each conversion between AC and DC introduces losses of roughly 2–5% — compared with DC-coupled systems that route solar power directly to the battery before conversion.
Is battery storage worth it for a balcony solar system under dynamic electricity tariffs?
A peer-reviewed study in Energy Policy (Lorenz et al., February 2026), analyzing data from 448 German households, found that residential battery storage systems earned 12.7% higher net financial gains under dynamic electricity tariffs compared with fixed tariffs. That advantage increases when the battery is managed automatically — the study found perfect day-ahead price forecasting added a further 6% in gains. Germany’s dynamic tariff mandate means the economic case for pairing storage with balcony solar has strengthened materially since 2024, though the exact benefit depends on each household’s consumption profile, tariff structure, and local solar generation.
Does buying a Chinese-made energy storage device create data privacy risks under Chinese law?
Yes, in a specific and structural sense. Shenzhen Washi Energy Co., Ltd., which manufactures WattCycle products, is subject to China’s National Intelligence Law (2017), Article 7, which requires all Chinese organizations and citizens to cooperate with national intelligence work. China’s Cybersecurity Law (2017) and Data Security Law (2021) also require that user data be accessible to the Chinese government on request. These obligations apply regardless of where the company’s servers are located or what its privacy policy states. No independent security audit of WattCycle products has been published. Practical mitigations such as network segmentation can limit data exposure but do not eliminate the underlying legal risk.
When will pricing and European distribution details for the WattCycle balcony system be available?
WattCycle had not disclosed a retail price or European distribution partners for the new balcony storage system as of June 21, 2026. Both are expected to be announced at Intersolar Europe 2026, where the company will exhibit at Booth C4.251 in Hall C4 from June 23–25, 2026, in Munich.
ⓒ 2026 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
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Scatec has started construction on a 120 MW solar plant in Tunisia’s Sidi Bouzid region after reaching financial close on June 17, 2026, marking a major step forward in the country’s renewable energy expansion.
The Norwegian renewable energy developer secured the funding for the €96 million project in partnership with Aeolus SAS, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Toyota Tsusho Group. Scatec will own 50% of the project while Aeolus holds the remaining 50%, with Scatec also providing engineering, procurement, construction, and operations services.
The Sidi Bouzid II plant will generate approximately 276 GWh of electricity annually once operational, enough to power thousands of homes while reducing CO2 emissions by nearly 107,000 tonnes each year. The facility is expected to reach commercial operation in the second half of 2027.
Tunisia is heavily dependent on natural gas for electricity generation, with 95% of current production based on imported fuel. The country has set an ambitious target to reach 35% of electricity generation from renewable sources by 2030, and projects like Sidi Bouzid II are central to achieving that goal. The power purchase agreement was awarded through a government tender in December 2024 designed to support Tunisia’s energy security and reduce reliance on fossil fuel imports.
The project received senior debt financing from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the European Investment Bank (EIB), with additional support from EU grant funding and guarantees. According to Scatec CEO Terje Pilskog, the project “demonstrates our ability to scale our business through repeatable tender-based opportunities, backed by a strong partnership with Aeolus.” This is Scatec’s third project starting construction in Tunisia, reinforcing the company’s position in the North African market.
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Chris Martin is a US economics and current affairs journalist covering the intersection of policy, markets, and everyday financial life. With a background in financial reporting and a sharp eye for the stories behind the numbers, Chris brings clarity to some of the most complex issues shaping the American economy today. At ECIKS.org, Chris covers breaking developments across domestic economic policy, business strategy, Wall Street movements, and political decisions that ripple through financial markets. His reporting blends rigorous data analysis with accessible storytelling making critical information useful for investors, entrepreneurs, and engaged citizens alike.
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Europeans are transforming their garden fences into mini solar farms. But is the trend a gimmick or a genius solution to energy independence?
Solar is already cushioning Europe from the crippling costs of fossil fuels amid the war on Iran and has been described as a “shining star” of the EU’s energy transition.
According to a recent analysis by SolarPower Europe, harnessing sunlight for electricity has already saved the continent a staggering €12.8 billion by lowering gas imports since the conflict began.
This works out at an average of €136 million per day – despite Europe’s outdated grid currently stalling around €100 billion worth of clean energy projects.
Interest in traditional rooftop solar panels spiked following Iran’s stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz – a fossil fuel chokepoint that usually carries around one-fifth of global oil supplies.
In Germany, renewable energy firm Enpal BV saw inquiries for solar panels rise by 30 per cent after the conflict began, while solar brand 1KOMMA5° GmbH has also reported an almost doubling of interest in solar.
UK energy firm EON saw interest in solar soar by 23 per cent between 23 February and 1 March, before surging a further 63 per cent between 2 and 8 March.
But it’s not just rooftop solar that is gaining momentum. The UK recently became the latest European country to lift restrictions on plug-in solar, confirming that low-cost panels will soon be available from budget retailers like Lidl and Iceland.
Now, Europeans are getting even more creative – by installing solar fences in their gardens.
Solar fences can maximise land use by combining a “physical boundary with renewable energy generation”, according to Jacksons Fencing, a company that sells fences fitted with solar panels in the UK and France.
One of its biggest selling points is that it removes the need for costly installations that often require scaffolding. Solar fences are also space-efficient, which is ideal for homeowners who have limited roof space or unsuitable roofs for panel installations.
These futuristic fences can also be scaled up gradually, allowing Europeans to install panels over time rather than all at once.
However, the panels capture less sunlight than they do on roofs due to their vertical positioning. According to Bluetti Power, under optimal conditions a typical solar fence can generate between 100 and 150 watts per linear metre.
For a 10-metre-long wall, this could translate to approximately one to 1.5 kW of power. With around five hours of peak sunlight, this would generate between 5 and 7.5 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity per day.
While this isn’t enough to power a full home, it could help run essential household items like an energy-efficient refrigerator or an LED TV.
In comparison, an average domestic solar power typically produces 2 kWh of electricity per day.
“Performance [also] depends on positioning, shading and available boundary length,” Maguire says.
“In some areas, permissions or regulations may influence installation, particularly in sensitive or listed environments.”
German solar energy firm Next2Sun has completed 479 solar fence projects across six European countries, covering some 10km.
The company says that vertical photovoltaic systems (PVs) can cost as little as €250 – but prices can be higher if households want a more natural design. Costs can be amortised within eight years, putting them at a similar investment level as traditional rooftop panels.
Next2Sun doesn’t just build solar fences for domestic properties, but also offers vertical panels for farms and commercial sites such as airports.
“Solar fencing is suited to infrastructure and commercial environments, where long stretches of boundaries already exist and remain unused from an energy perspective,” Maguire says.
“Warehouses, logistics centres and business parks often have large perimeters where solar fencing can support on-site energy demand – while schools, utilities and local authorities could integrate solar fencing into sustainability programmes.”
Maguire adds that while considerations around durability, safety standards, glare and maintenance in high traffic environments are needed, the concept “aligns strongly with a broader push” to integrate renewable energy into existing infrastructure.
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Oxford PV and the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE have combined two high-efficiency technologies in a single photovoltaic module. To achieve this, they used perovskite-silicon solar cells from Oxford PV and connected them using the Matrix Shingle technology developed by Fraunhofer ISE. Oxford PV is a pioneer in perovskite-silicon tandem technology and was the first company to bring this next-generation solar technology into industrial production. The new module design will be on display for the first time at The Smarter E / Intersolar trade fair, taking place from 23 to 25 June 2026 in Munich. A rooftop module variant is on display at Fraunhofer ISE’s stand in hall A1.440, and a bifacial module for large-scale ground-mounted installations is shown at Oxford PV’s stand in hall A4.540.
“We are delighted to be able to combine two high-tech approaches from Europe in this PV module,” says Prof Dr Stefan Glunz, Head of Photovoltaics at Fraunhofer ISE.
“To achieve this, we have cut the solar cells from Oxford PV into shingles, arranged them in a matrix structure, electrically connected them using conductive adhesive, and then encapsulated them.” The tandem modules are glass-glass modules with edge sealing to protect the moisture-sensitive solar cells.
The 491-watt rooftop module has an area of 1.92 square metres, whilst the large-area, 546-watt bifacial module covers 2.13 square metres. Both achieved an efficiency of 25.6 percent across the entire module area.
“Our tandem technology and the shingle interconnection work well together technologically. Due to the lower current densities of the perovskite-silicon solar cells, they can be cut into wider strips, which increases productivity,” explains Dr Ed Crossland, Chief Technology Officer at Oxford PV. Tandem solar cells achieve significantly higher voltages and efficiencies than conventional cells, while the current is lower due to its distribution across two sub-cells. This lower current density is beneficial, as it helps reduce resistive losses within the PV module.
“At the same time, the adhesive interconnection of the Matrix shingle technology is a low-temperature process and requires no copper connectors,” Crossland added. Reducing usage of copper connectors can reduce operating costs and reduce stresses in the module construction.
Tandem solar cells have the potential to significantly boost efficiency in photovoltaics: by applying a perovskite cell just a few hundred nanometres thick onto a conventional silicon solar cell, the theoretical efficiency limit rises from 29.4 to 43.3 percent. Oxford PV’s perovskite-silicon solar cells and modules are manufactured in a pilot production facility in Brandenburg an der Havel, Germany. The perovskite cell is applied directly onto a silicon heterojunction cell using thin-film processes.
In Matrix-Shingle technology, the solar cell strips are bonded together using 100 percent lead-free, electrically conductive adhesives, with the strips arranged in an overlapping and staggered pattern like shingles. This enables complete, homogeneous coverage of the entire module surface. Furthermore, Matrix-Shingle technology is characterised by a high tolerance to partial shading. Thanks to the matrix arrangement, the current can flow around the shaded areas, meaning that, depending on the degree of partial shading, twice the power can be generated compared to conventional inter-connected PV modules.
The new PV modules were developed as part of the ‘HoTSun’ research project, funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE).
© Fraunhofer ISE / photo: Jacob Forster
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Nearly 17,000 US-made solar panels now generate clean electricity on reclaimed mining land in Woodford County, Illinois.
A former coal mining site in central Illinois is now being used for renewable energy. Nexamp and TurningPoint Energy have finished two community solar projects in Woodford County, turning land that once produced coal into a solar power facility that provides electricity to local customers and businesses.
The site near Minonk was once part of the Colchester Coal Seam mining region, active from the late 1800s to the mid-1900s. Now, it has almost 17,000 solar panels that can generate 9.8 megawatts of electricity, enough for hundreds of subscribers and to add clean power to the local grid.
These projects are the first time Nexamp and TurningPoint Energy have worked together in Illinois. They are also the first Illinois Shines community solar projects in Woodford County.
The solar panels were installed on a former coal mine that is considered a brownfield under Illinois Shines, the state’s solar incentive program. This certification encourages developers to use land that has already been disturbed, rather than farmland or untouched areas.
TurningPoint Energy handled project development, while Nexamp was responsible for construction and now owns and operates the facilities.
The solar farms together cover about 40 acres and send electricity straight into Commonwealth Edison’s network. Nexamp says all the solar panels were made in the United States, which supports local clean energy supply chains and brings new economic value to land that used to be tied to fossil fuels.
The Minonk projects also bring new grid management technology to the area. They are among the first projects on ComEd’s system to use Distributed Energy Resource Management Systems (DERMS).
This software enables utilities to monitor and manage energy resources, such as solar panels, in real time. As more renewable energy connects to the grid, it becomes harder for utilities to balance supply and demand. DERMS helps by providing better control and visibility into how energy flows.
Using this technology, the projects show that renewable energy can help keep the grid reliable and help utilities prepare for more clean energy in the future.
Many people in the community have signed up. The projects are almost full, with over 650 customers already enrolled.
One of the solar farms provides power to about 450 homes. The other serves around 200 low-income households, making community solar more accessible and helping these families save on electricity costs.
Community solar is different from rooftop solar because customers can join a shared project and get credits on their utility bills without having to install anything at home. This makes solar power available to renters, apartment dwellers, and homeowners whose roofs are not suitable for solar panels.
Big organizations are also helping make the projects successful. Rush University Medical Center and the College of DuPage have joined as customers and together use about 40 percent of the projects’ electricity.
Their involvement creates steady demand, supporting the community solar model and helping bring renewable energy to more people.
“This is exactly the kind of project we aspire to deliver with our partners and our customers,” said Nexamp CEO Zaid Ashai. “By turning a former coal mine into a pair of community solar farms, we are helping hundreds of subscribers reduce their energy costs today while strengthening their energy security for the long term.”
“By pairing that affordability with US-manufactured equipment and advanced grid tools like DERMS, these Minonk projects not only put clean power within reach for households and institutions; they also show how community solar can make the grid smarter, more resilient, and better prepared for Illinois’ clean energy future.”
A versatile writer, Sujita has worked with Mashable Middle East and News Daily 24. When she isn't writing, you can find her glued to the latest web series and movies.
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The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) has found that solar only occupies 0.07% of U.S. farmland in an interactive map the organization published today.
The new tool comes amid Farm Bill negotiations in Congress and growing misinformation and targeted scrutiny of solar development and agricultural land use. The map shows that solar occupies a small share of U.S. farmland, especially compared to suburban sprawl and recreational uses.
Across the country, many solar projects support dual-use agricultural practices such as grazing and pollinator habitats.
“America depends on our land to grow our food, build our communities, and power our lives,” said Tim Pawlenty, SEIA president and CEO. “Responsible land use means balancing all of those needs. This map helps provide important context by showing that solar and agriculture can thrive together. Solar development uses a very small amount of farmland compared to many other common land uses, while also delivering affordable energy, local tax revenue, and reliable income for farmers and landowners.”
Solar currently uses just 0.04% of total U.S. land area, and there are zero states where solar uses more than 0.5% of prime farmland. Nearly every state has more abandoned prime farmland than solar-developed prime farmland, according to SEIA’s findings. Nationally, there are 43 acres of abandoned prime farmland for every acre of solar on prime farmland.
Golf courses use 2.6 times as much prime farmland than solar. Suburban development just since 2014 uses roughly six-times more prime farmland than solar.
News item from SEIA
Billy Ludt is managing editor of Solar Power World and currently covers topics on mounting, inverters, installation and operations.
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Alongside finally getting a chance to drive the Aptera 3-wheeled solar EV, we got a short tour around the company’s facility. It was illuminating – showing off the progress Aptera has made and the challenges still to come for the company.
If you’ve been around the EV industry for a while (or if you read our first drive report), you’ve probably heard about Aptera.
Based in California in sunny San Diego county, Aptera is a startup hoping to make a hyper-efficient solar electric vehicle.
But it’s been hoping for a long time. A really long time.
In fact, I’ve been driving electric vehicles since 2009, which I’d say is rather early in the technology’s lifespan. And yet, the idea behind Aptera is older even than my involvement in this industry.
The company was founded all the way back in 2005. At least, its original incarnation was. At the time, they were trying to make a 300+ mile per gallon gas-powered vehicle. Then the company folded, restarted, folded again, and restarted again in 2019, with its original founders back at the head.
Now it has moved on to a fully electric, solar-boosted EV, and if you read the company’s press releases, you’ll see a lot of hype about progress, prototypes, production validation and the like. It seems like things are getting closer… but they’ve been getting closer for a while, too.
The fact that no car has been delivered so far and that the company has had to engage in some creative fundraising efforts to get here has led to skepticism from the overall EV community.
So, to get a better sense of what’s going on with Aptera, we got a short tour around its ~77,000 square foot headquarters in Carlsbad where it intends to do final assembly.
Near the lobby, Aptera had a few generations of its prototypes parked side by side, displaying the iterations the company has gone through in developing the vehicle. Of particular interest here is the suspension design, which has changed several times as Aptera seeks to reduce aerodynamic disturbances at the front of the car.
Stepping into the factory, we traveled roughly along the same path that a car will take during assembly.
First we saw the rather svelte chassis, with the inboard motor assembly in place. This is a newer decision, as Aptera had originally wanted to use wheel hub motors, but found an inboard one would be simpler to manufacture, as the wheel hub motors they had wanted to use suffered high failure rates out of the supplier’s factory.
Then we saw several of Aptera’s bodies being assembled. Basically all of the body components are made of carbon fiber sheet molding compound (“CF-SMC”), produced in partnership with CPC Group in Italy.
This material is similar to fiberglass, but stronger (and more expensive) as it’s reinforced by carbon fiber. It can be molded into any shape and requires very little labor, as material is injected into a mold and comes out as a finished piece after around 10 minutes.
Those pieces are made in Italy and shipped to Aptera’s facility where they are glued together. This is the station where the pieces are clamped into position.
There were a few bits that we couldn’t take pictures of – like the solar production area, where Aptera has custom machines to produce the curved solar panels on the car’s body. Another interesting note: Each panel on the car is broken up into zones, which helps reduce efficiency loss in the event that part of the car is shaded.
Aptera’s parts department is relatively small, as the company says the whole car only has 130-ish parts. Aptera currently has to assemble some of those, like the dashboard pieces, but it says they’ll come assembled once the company can order in higher volumes.
All of the parts have involved a focus on efficiency. For example, Aptera uses a Snapdragon 845 ARM processor for its ADAS tasks, which only uses 9 watts of power and runs openpilot. And it uses LIN instead of CAN for network communication within the car, saving both power and cost.
Even the charging system had to be rethought, as EV charging usually takes ~200 watts of overhead, which would be a huge waste when charging on ~500W of solar. So they bypass the full charging system and use a lower-power system with only 8-15 watts of overhead, only activating the full system when necessary.
This is all controlled by an Aptera-designed battery management system (BMS) and power distribution unit (PDU), and having those units in-house means that Aptera can update every module on the car over-the-air, which is very helpful for automotive startups to have the capability to do.
What struck me most about the tour was the high level of openness displayed by Aptera. Nothing seemed particularly staged or hidden, and I was able to take pictures of almost anything. There were papers left around that probably would have been put away if the area had been staged for journalists.
While this company sometimes receives skeptical or even outright hostile comments, this openness was not the kind of behavior of a company that is trying to hide something.
And we saw perhaps 15 or so vehicle bodies in various stages of assembly, and from various stages of the development process. It was far more vehicles than I had expected to see, which is encouraging.
That said, we saw a similar number of vehicle bodies as in the video Aptera published in December. But the facility was laid out in a more organized manner now, with identifiable production stations in logical places. Was it as much change as we might expect in 6 months worth of progress? Maybe, maybe not. But the company is on a tight budget, after all.
And while 15 or so vehicles is more than we expected, it’s a far cry from the 5,000 vehicles Aptera wants to deliver of its “Launch edition” cars, which will all come with the same option list (more options will be available later – including different colors, all of which will come in the form of wraps, rather than paint, because paint shops are one of the most expensive parts of a factory. The green color in the featured photo at the top of this article is a wrap).
One major issue with Aptera is the market it would be jumping into. It’s a cool idea for a car(-like thing), but there may be some competition which is hard to ignore.
If someone wants an affordable EV, both the Chevy Bolt and the Nissan Leaf are available for cheaper than the Aptera. They’re competent vehicles, and they’re “normal,” in that they have four wheels, four doors, five seats, a trunk and so on. But they aren’t distinctive.
And if someone wants a hyper-efficient EV, there’s the Cybercab. It’s not as efficient as the Aptera and doesn’t have solar, but it’s small and cheap and much more efficient than everything else. But… well, it might not have a steering wheel. Depending on if Elon tells the truth this time or not.
So a couple of the motivations for getting the Aptera have been front-run by the competition. There are more affordable and almost-as-efficient options.
Which leaves us with distinctive and solar. It still has those in droves, and its usage of solar is basically unique. And solar unlocks some interesting potential applications – very low cost per mile could be used for commercial applications, the ability to charge without plugging in could help those who don’t have access to home charging.
But can a solar EV succeed? There have been several other ideas for solar EVs, and most have folded or gotten nowhere so far.
Aptera has kept plugging along, and thanks to recently going public (under ticker SEV, previously owned by Sono Motors, which folded in 2023), it has some cash to keep going for now. Being listed on the NASDAQ does give it more options for fundraising.
Good article. I still doubt there’s a significant market for Aptera, but also you need to stop comparing anything to Cybercab until Tesla confirms it’ll be available with driver controls. Until then, it’s purely a robotaxi fleet vehicle for use in geofenced areas–not an actual option for consumers.
It has raised around $150 million over its life, but it still estimates that it will need another $40 million or so to bring this car to the road. It said it’s preparing to do more fundraising soon, though we don’t have details on that.
Earlier this year, Aptera said first deliveries would happen… in June 2026. That seems, uh, quite unlikely to happen within the next two weeks. We don’t have an updated date for first deliveries, which means the mantra will probably be as it always was: wait and see.
Aptera is taking reservations now for $100 a pop. If you want to get in line, you can use our Aptera Referral Link for $30 off the refundable reservation fee.
If you *don’t* have solar on your car, you can always charge your electric vehicle at home using rooftop solar panels. Find a reliable and competitively priced solar installer near you on EnergySage, for free. They have pre-vetted installers competing for your business, ensuring high-quality solutions and 20-30% savings. It’s free, with no sales calls until you choose an installer. Compare personalized solar quotes online and receive guidance from unbiased Energy Advisers. Get started here. – ad*
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Jameson has been driving electric cars since 2009, and covering EVs, sustainability and policy for Electrek since 2016.
You can reach him at jamie@electrek.co.
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Plans have been approved to build a large electricity substation in East Yorkshire which will be linked to offshore wind farms.
The 7.4-acre (three hectare) site at Birkhill Wood near Cottingham would be connected to three wind farms being built in the North Sea.
The nearby Creyke Beck substation will also be expanded to accommodate battery storage and additional power from future offshore developments, National Grid said.
The company said the developments would provide enough electricity to power more than four million homes.
Daniel Cohen, senior project manager at National Grid, said: "The substation is needed to connect offshore wind farms to meet growing electricity demand and will help ensure communities across the North East have a resilient and reliable power supply as everyday life becomes increasingly electrified.
"Strengthening the network is essential to support local businesses, future jobs and the connection of more secure, cleaner, home-grown energy from more affordable sources."
The company said that as part of the development it would protect "existing landscaping and trees around the site boundary".
Construction work will start in spring 2027 and the site is expected to be operational by 2030.
Listen to highlights from Hull and East Yorkshire on BBC Sounds and watch the latest episode of Look North, or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.
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Kingsway Solar Farm would have covered more than 3,000 acres of farmland in Cambridgeshire.
Council planning officers say the turbines would harm the environment, landscape and seascape.
SSEN Transmission is to spend £17m on 50 new homes – initially for its workers – on the Isle of Lewis.
An investigation was launched at Torness nuclear power station after operator EDF reported an incident at the site in March.
Two of the 75m (250ft) blades were taken through Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway to the site.
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Ørsted’s Eleven Mile Solar Center, shown above, is located in Pinal County, Ariz. The project began commercial operations in 2024. The Danish multinational energy company plans a similar project outside Keno.
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Ørsted’s Eleven Mile Solar Center, shown above, is located in Pinal County, Ariz. The project began commercial operations in 2024. The Danish multinational energy company plans a similar project outside Keno.
The Keno Wildlands Alliance, composed of local residents, has established a 501(c)(4) political advocacy group to oppose Ørsted’s proposed Klamath Falls Energy Center. Ørsted is a Danish multinational energy company.
“We’re not anti-solar; we just don’t think it should be on this land,” said Joyce Furlong, who represents the alliance. Furlong cited elk and deer migration corridors, the seasonal marsh, and sensitive meadowlands that would be affected by the proposed solar farm. “Just because it’s not productive, forest land doesn’t mean it’s worthless,” she said.
Furlong leads the group, with Sherrie Rodgers as president and Dawn Nye as secretary.
Klamath County Commissioner Andy Nichols praised their efforts, saying, “I applaud the Keno Wildlands Alliance and their efforts to get ahead of the curve and ensure their voices are heard.”
The Klamath Falls Energy Center is a proposed 400-megawatt solar farm with a 400-megawatt battery storage system. The project is currently under review by the Oregon Department of Energy’s State Solar Siting Commission.
The proposed site covers about 8,600 acres of privately owned land. That’s roughly the size of 45 Oregon Institute of Technology Klamath Falls campuses or about 6,500 football fields.
The Klamath Falls Energy Center remains in early stages and has not yet submitted a formal application or proposed design. The public comment period on the Notice of Intent ran from Feb. 4 to March 20, 2026. The Oregon Department of Energy issued a Project Order on May 11, 2026, giving Ørsted until Dec. 22, 2027, to submit a plan application for a site certificate. The company may request an additional year.
The 746-page Project Order outlines required rules, statutes, and information for the plan application. Of those pages, 528 consist of public comments, the vast majority of which are in opposition. The full order is available from the State Siting Commission.
“After 10 years of examining energy projects, this doesn’t have legs,” said County Commissioner Derrick DeGroot.
The alliance has received support from Oregon Responsible Solar, a Bonanza-based group that successfully opposed a proposed 300-megawatt solar project and 1,100-megawatt battery storage system planned for 2,700 acres.
The project was owned by Hecate Energy, a Chicago-based company. Hecate reduced the project’s boundary to 1,000 acres due to public opposition, and the project was eventually canceled.
Alliance members cited concerns about scenic beauty, recreational opportunities, endangered species, and the risk that fires could release heavy metals into the air.
“We’re worried it will impact our home insurance — we already have high rates,” Furlong said, adding that falling home values are also a concern. “We came here to live in the forest,” she said.
“I understand their concerns — I have the same — but this is private land,” Nichols said of the newly formed alliance. “The board of commissioners should never be in the business of telling private landowners what to do.”
He emphasized that everyone must follow local laws, processes, and codes.
Klamath County has seen a surge in energy project proposals, according to DeGroot, Nichols, and Jeremy Morris, the county’s public works and planning director. The largest operating solar project in the county spans about 350 acres. In recent years, the number of proposed projects has increased, but none have begun construction.
There has been confusion between the Klamath Falls Energy Center, which would be on private land owned by Green Diamond Resource Co., and the Diamond Solar Energy Project near Diamond Junction. The Klamath Falls Energy Center has not yet submitted a plan. The Diamond Solar Energy Project is much smaller and has already been approved.
Projects that have received approval but have not begun construction:
• The Hayden Mountain Solar and Battery Storage Energy Center, developed by Ecoplexus, would span about 900 acres and produce 160 megawatts of power. Ecoplexus is a California-based global renewable energy developer.
• The Diamond Solar Energy Project, developed by Invenergy LLC, would cover about 1,560 acres near Diamond Junction and produce 200 megawatts of power. Invenergy is a Chicago-based global renewable energy developer.
• The Swan Lake Energy Storage Project, by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, would span about 2,000 acres and produce 393 megawatts of power. Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners is a Denmark-based green energy investor. Rye Development, based in Florida, is developing the project.
Other projects under review by the state siting commission include:
• The Klamath Cogeneration Project, a 525-megawatt natural gas-fired combined-cycle facility by Avangrid Power LLC, the U.S. division of Spanish multinational Iberdrola S.A.
Morris said the county has received several applications for energy projects since the removal of hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River. He speculated the phasing out of federal subsidies and a perceived opening in the grid have fueled developer interest.
On June 5, 2026, House Bill 4031 was passed, temporarily granting local governments authority to issue renewable energy permits that had previously been handled by the state. The move aims to speed up the process after Gov. Tina Kotek signed an executive order fast-tracking solar and wind permits to take advantage of federal tax credits before they expire.
The law exempts energy facilities from the requirement to obtain a site certificate from the Energy Facility Siting Council if they produce renewable energy, qualify for certain federal tax credits, and are placed in service by Dec. 31, 2030.
Furlong and Nichols both shared concerns about the bill, but the proposed Klamath Falls Energy Center is not currently utilizing the bill’s exemption.
The change has created a bind at the county level over who would handle the applications. Klamath County’s planning department has 2.3 full-time employees, raising concerns about its capacity to review new projects under the law.
“It’s all the planning staff can do to stay ahead with local projects,” said Morris, adding that the department lacks capacity for large-scale energy projects. Nichols called the law a double-edged sword and an unfunded mandate. He welcomed more county control but said staffing remains a concern.
If a large-scale project were introduced at the county level, officials would need to hire more planning staff. But hiring qualified people is a challenge, especially since there’s no clear path to fund the positions after project revenue runs out.
Furlong said that as federal tax credits are being phased out, there is a rush for new projects, adding, “Rural places are being thrown under the bus.”
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Multi-scale Optimization on Interfacial Evaporative Cooling for Photovoltaic Performance Enhancement Wiley
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ZimGreenCo and Dolcin Trading have finalized a 25 year Power Purchase Agreement for the development of a 50 MW solar photovoltaic plant near Chegutu in Mashonaland West, Zimbabwe.
The project, which will be developed by Sigma Solar Africa, represents a significant step forward for Zimbabwe’s open access renewable energy market and demonstrates the growing ability of private sector projects to secure financing without relying on government backed guarantees.
Under the agreement, ZimGreenCo Power Services will act as the offtaker, providing the long term revenue certainty required by developers and financiers to reach financial close and move the project into construction.
The project is structured within a System Operations Agreement with the Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company, enabling the plant to supply electricity through the national grid under an open access framework.
Industry stakeholders view the transaction as an important milestone for Zimbabwe’s energy sector. By providing a creditworthy route to market, the agreement strengthens the bankability of renewable energy projects while reducing dependence on sovereign balance sheet support.
The deal also highlights the growing viability of open access arrangements in Zimbabwe, where private power producers can generate electricity and deliver it through the grid to major energy users. This model is expected to play an increasingly important role in attracting investment, expanding generation capacity and supporting the country’s energy transition goals.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
May 20, 2026
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Energy independence is becoming a priority for many homeowners who want greater control over rising utility costs, energy reliability, and long-term household expenses. As energy prices fluctuate, more families are exploring options such as solar power, battery storage, energy-efficient upgrades, and smart home technologies to reduce their reliance on traditional energy sources.
A recent Pew Research survey found that 42% of Americans say their energy bills have gone up a lot in recent years. For many households, that increase has transformed energy from a routine monthly expense into a major budget concern.
Imagine opening another utility bill and realizing it is higher than the month before, despite making no significant changes to your daily habits. Homeowners across the country are responding by taking a closer look at energy independence, searching for practical ways to gain more control over their costs, improve resilience during outages, and create a more predictable financial future.
Energy independence means reducing reliance on traditional utility providers by generating, storing, or managing energy at home. While some people picture living completely off the grid, most homeowners pursue a more practical version of energy independence that combines self-produced energy with access to the local power network.
One of the biggest reasons homeowners explore energy independence is the opportunity to reduce long-term energy expenses. While utility bills can fluctuate due to rate increases, seasonal demand, and market conditions, generating more of a home’s energy on-site can help create greater cost predictability.
Energy independence strategies often focus on reducing the amount of electricity purchased from utility companies. Solar panels, battery storage systems, and energy-efficient upgrades can work together to lower overall consumption from the grid. Over time, those reductions may add up to meaningful savings for households that use large amounts of energy throughout the year.
Many homeowners also appreciate the ability to manage when and how energy is used. Smart home technology and energy monitoring tools can identify waste, helping families make adjustments that improve efficiency without sacrificing comfort.
Solar power has become one of the most practical ways for homeowners to move toward greater energy independence. Instead of relying entirely on electricity from the grid, solar panels allow households to generate a portion of their own power using a renewable energy source.
The potential for long-term savings is one of the biggest advantages. Producing electricity on site can help reduce monthly utility costs and lessen the impact of future rate increases. Many homeowners also value the added control that comes from generating their own energy rather than depending solely on external providers.
Solar energy can offer benefits beyond cost savings. It may improve energy security, support environmental goals, and increase a home’s appeal to future buyers. When combined with battery storage, solar systems can provide backup power for important household functions during outages.
In sunny regions such as New Mexico, solar panel installation in Albuquerque, NM, has become an increasingly attractive option for homeowners looking to take advantage of abundant sunshine while reducing their dependence on traditional energy sources.
Many homeowners interested in energy independence overlook one of the simplest starting points: understanding where energy is being wasted. An energy audit gives you a detailed assessment of how a home uses energy and can identify opportunities to improve efficiency before investing in larger upgrades.
During an audit, professionals evaluate areas such as insulation, air leaks, windows, doors, lighting, and HVAC performance.
Addressing these major issues can make a noticeable difference. A home that wastes less energy often requires less electricity to heat, cool, and operate, making future investments even more effective.
Energy audits also help homeowners prioritize renewable energy solutions based on potential impact.
Many homeowners view energy independence as part of a broader strategy to prepare a home for the future.
As technology continues to evolve, households are using more electricity than ever before. The following are increasing energy demands in many homes:
Energy independence measures can help homeowners adapt to these changes while maintaining greater control over energy costs.
Preparing for future needs may also reduce the likelihood of costly upgrades later. A home that is already optimized for efficiency and renewable energy may be better positioned to accommodate changing lifestyles and technologies.
Yes. Frequent or prolonged power outages are encouraging many homeowners to think about energy in a new way. Instead of focusing only on monthly utility bills, many are also considering reliability, preparedness, and access to electricity during emergencies.
In general, homes with more occupants tend to consume more electricity, heating, cooling, and hot water because there are more people using appliances, electronics, lighting, and other household systems throughout the day.
However, energy consumption is not determined by household size alone. The following can also influence usage:
A smaller household in an older, less efficient home may use more energy than a larger family living in a well-insulated property with energy-saving upgrades.
Retirement can shift your financial thoughts. Without a regular paycheck, many retirees focus on controlling recurring expenses so their savings can last as long as possible.
Energy costs are receiving more attention because they can continue rising long after retirement begins. Many retirees are looking for ways to reduce monthly utility bills, improve efficiency, and create a more predictable household budget.
Lower energy expenses can free up funds for:
Energy independence can cut costs and help reduce the threat of climate change. It’s something to look at if you’re trying to save money!
Looking for more ways to save money? Make sure you scroll through some of our other articles.
This article was prepared by an independent contributor which helps us continue delivering quality content to our audiences.
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By Emily Forgash | Bloomberg
Solar power is surpassing natural gas generation in California, demonstrating the sustained and growing impact of renewable energy in the biggest US market for photovoltaic panels.
Utility-scale solar generation in California exceeded power from gas during 82% of the days this year through May, according to a Tuesday report from the US Energy Information Association. While solar has supplied more power to the state’s grid for short periods in the past, this marks the first year when average generation in the first five months has outpaced the fossil fuel that’s the biggest source of US electricity.
The solar industry is growing despite efforts from the Trump administration to thwart the use of renewable energy. US policies favor traditional electric sources like coal and nuclear, which can produce power around the clock, unlike solar and wind. In May, solar overtook coal in US power generation for the first time.
California is aggressively adding renewable energy to meet a 2045 goal of reaching carbon neutrality, and has installed more panels and energy storage than any US state. Utility-scale solar capacity climbed 19% in the two years through April, while gas capacity was flat, according to the report.
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A 980 m² residence in Maringá, Paraná, became a practical example of how solar energy can change the impact of the electricity bill on the household budget.
According to a report published by Canal Solar on October 3, 2020, the owner Wanda Martins installed the photovoltaic system in 2016, in her 980 m² house in Maringá. At the time, the project had an investment of R$ 70,000, a power of 12.24 kWp, and was made up of 48 modules. The result drew attention due to the size of the bill reduction: from about R$ 1,200 per month to approximately R$ 200.
In practice, the reduction is close to 83%. This data is important because it shows, in simple numbers, the impact of a residential solar system in a large house, with high consumption and constant energy demand.
New Philips Air Fryer Series 4000 arrives with only 24 cm in width, vertical dual basket, and technology that synchronizes the preparation of two different dishes to be ready at exactly the same time.
The largest supermarket chain in the country, Mercadona, opens a semi-automated warehouse worth R$ 320 million with 70 robots and 32,000 m², where products go to employees to speed up to 5,000 orders per day in the new Vallecas hive.
NASA reveals the global network that monitors over 41,000 near-Earth asteroids, shares data among scientists worldwide, and has already proven that humanity can deflect a space rock before a collision.
Chinese hypergravity machine is so insane that it reaches 1,900 G-tons, is located underground, spins giant arms at high speed, and can simulate earthquakes, storms, ocean depths, and even pressures from the Earth’s depths.
Before the installation, the monthly bill for the residence was around R$ 1,200. For a house of almost a thousand square meters, this type of expense is not uncommon, especially when there is frequent use of electrical equipment, lighting, refrigeration, and other appliances.
Wanda Martins’ case gained traction precisely because it shows a common situation in larger properties: energy weighs every month and repeats without pause. The difference is that, in Maringá, the chosen solution was to transform part of this cost into self-generation.
According to Canal Solar, the installed system has a capacity of 12.24 kWp. It was sized to generate about 16.5 thousand kWh per year and meet approximately 90% of the family’s consumption.
The project was not small. The residence received 48 solar modules, enough to place the roof at the center of the house’s savings strategy.
The reported investment was R$ 70,000. Although the amount is high for many families, the case draws attention because the monthly bill reduction was significant. The bill, which was previously close to R$ 1,200, dropped to about R$ 200.
This means an approximate saving of R$ 1,000 per month, considering the disclosed values. In a year, the difference can represent an important relief in the household budget.
The central point is that the system did not completely eliminate the bill, but significantly reduced the amount paid. And this difference helps explain why residential solar energy has come to be seen by many consumers as an alternative against increasingly heavy bills.
One of the most relevant data of the case is the estimated consumption coverage. According to Canal Solar, the system was designed to meet about 90% of the family’s energy demand.
This detail is important because it shows that the project was designed based on the house’s usage profile. It’s not just about placing panels on the roof, but about sizing the generation according to the property’s actual consumption.
The predicted annual generation of 16.5 thousand kWh helps explain the reduction in the bill. Instead of relying almost entirely on energy purchased from the grid, the house started producing a good part of its own electricity.
In large residences, this change can have an even more visible effect. The higher the monthly consumption, the greater the perceived impact tends to be when self-generation starts to offset part of the demand.
The case of Maringá does not appear in isolation. The research itself shows Brazilian examples with similar or even greater drops in the electricity bill.
In Curitiba, the City Hall reported that the Cohab Solar project installed photovoltaic panels in 26 houses of Moradias Faxinal. According to the municipal administration, there were reductions above 80% in the energy bill of the residents.
One of the examples disclosed by the Curitiba City Hall showed a bill that dropped from about R$ 130 to R$ 20, a reduction of 84%. The amount is lower than the case of Maringá, but the logic is similar: self-generation reduces dependence on the grid and cuts monthly expenses.
Another example cited in the research comes from Novo Hamburgo, in Rio Grande do Sul. According to Elysia Energia, a site received 44 solar panels, with a system capable of supplying 100% of the local’s energy demand and still generating surplus for other properties of the user.
In this project, the estimated reduction in the bill reached 85%, with an approximate saving of R$ 15,000 per year, according to the company.
The story of the 980 m² house in Maringá draws attention because it turns a technical theme into a simple equation: before, R$ 1,200 per month; after, about R$ 200.
The impact is not just on the roof full of solar modules, nor on the R$ 70,000 investment. It’s in the change of logic. The residence stopped being just an energy consumer and started producing a significant part of what it uses.
In a country where the electricity bill weighs on the pockets of families, condominiums, businesses, and rural properties, cases like this help explain why solar energy has gained ground. They show, with concrete numbers, that the technology can move from environmental discourse directly into the household budget.
Wanda Martins’ case goes beyond individual savings. It reveals how self-generation is beginning to reshape the relationship many Brazilians have with energy, especially when the high bill is no longer accepted as something inevitable.
I am an Argentine journalist based in Rio de Janeiro, focusing on energy and geopolitics, as well as technology and military affairs. I produce analyses and reports with accessible language, data, context, and strategic insight into the developments impacting Brazil and the world. 📩 Contact: noelbudeguer@gmail.com
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By Canary Media
Canary Media
This article is part of our “Chart of the Week” series.
With solar panels getting cheaper each year and utility bills soaring, you might expect rooftop solar to be booming in the U.S. That’s not the case.
Instead, thanks in large part to the Trump administration’s revocation of federal tax incentives, residential rooftop solar installations in 2026 are expected to fall to their lowest level since 2020, per new BloombergNEF data.
Nearly one year ago, President Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act into law and eliminated a 30% federal tax credit for rooftop solar systems. It was a major blow to an industry that was already struggling because of high interest rates, tariffs, and a seismic policy change in California, the state that has led the nation on rooftop solar adoption. The legislation also eliminated the 30% tax credit that applied to battery backup systems, which homeowners increasingly pair with photovoltaics.
Yanking away tax credits makes it costlier to install rooftop solar, so it’s no surprise the move dampened sales. People who buy rooftop solar systems are mainly looking for relief from high utility bills, and solar installations are already more expensive in the U.S. than in many other countries. Residential solar costs $2.58 per watt, on average, compared with around $1 per watt in Australia, a global leader in the space.
The outlook isn’t great. BNEF analysts think it will take more than a decade for the industry to match the installations record it set back in 2023. To be fair, that record happened under some very specific circumstances: The Inflation Reduction Act, passed the previous year, had boosted the federal tax credit for rooftop solar, and, at the same time, Californians were sprinting to install systems before the state did away with its lucrative compensation scheme in April 2023.
Still, there are some glimmers of hope. In California, the residential solar market is set to rebound this year and grow by 17% from last year. Meanwhile, Florida, the No. 2 state for rooftop solar, is set to see its installations grow by a staggering 62% in 2026.
That suggests the biggest state markets for rooftop solar are fairly resilient. Some combination of ample sun, high awareness of solar, and rising utility bills has enabled the clean energy tech to keep growing even though a significant slice of homeowners already have their own panels.
Meanwhile, although its potential is much more modest, a far smaller and more accessible form of residential solar is sweeping the nation: balcony solar. Several states have passed legislation green-lighting these DIY plug-in solar systems. They can’t deliver the same wattage as a classic rooftop setup, but they’re relatively cheap and available to renters — not just homeowners. Maybe that emerging boom can help offset the bust for rooftop systems.
Dan McCarthy is a senior editor at Canary Media.
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Every day the Good Good Good team collects the best good news in the world and shares it with our community. Here are the highlights for this week!
If you want to get good news in your inbox every day, join the Goodnewsletter — the free daily newsletter designed to leave you feeling hopeful.
On June 9, France moved one step closer to its 2030 goal of placing 10% of its land under “strong protection” by creating seven new biological reserves and expanding two existing ones.
The largest land area protected under the new measures is the Armontabo Rocky Peaks integral reserve in French Guiana. The reserve accounts for 156,290 hectares — or 387,955 acres — of tropical rainforest and granite peaks.
The other eight reserves are spread across metropolitan France and range from the mountain forests of Vosges to the Mediterranean woodlands of Hérault.
Why is this good news? Protected nature reserves are widely known to prevent species extinction, mitigate climate change by safeguarding carbon storage, and buffer neighboring areas from flooding and erosion.
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The U.S. is on track to see an unusually hot summer, but thanks to rapid expansion of solar and battery storage — and just a few new gas plants — its grid is equipped to handle the high temperatures and power demands that they bring.
The NERC forecasted “strengthened readiness” thanks to the widespread, lowest-cost new sources of power — and their assessment didn’t include any of the aging coal power plants the Trump administration forced to remain open.
The 30.5 gigawatts of new solar power in particular is generating 16.4 gigawatts of capacity when demand is at its highest — during the day in summer. A few regions still face risks of shortfalls, but it’s a major improvement over last summer.
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To fight food insecurity in Portland, a nonprofit called Sunshine Division recently opened a grocery store where everything is free. The market is designed to give families in need access to fresh, nutritious food in a way that feels similar to a traditional grocery shopping experience.
The new market is located in a 30,000-square-foot facility with warehouse space, cold storage, loading docks, volunteer areas, and offices — and it expects to serve 100,000 households this year.
Much of the store’s offerings are made possible through donations, and about 80% of the inventory comes from contributions by local grocery stores, retailers, farms, and other food partners.
Even better: Instead of handing out prepacked food boxes, the market lets people shop for themselves and choose the items that best fit their family’s needs, allergies, and dietary restrictions. This approach gives people more choice and a shopping experience that feels familiar and dignified.
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Electricity demand is rising around the world, but for the fifth year in a row, the share of gas meeting that demand declined, replaced primarily by renewables.
Even in traditionally coal-heavy regions like Asia and Oceania, which are relying less and less on coal, gas still has a relatively limited share of the supply — accounting for 10.2% in Asia, down from 13.9% in 2015, and 15.1% in Oceania, down from 18.5%.
And in Europe, the share of gas peaked in 2010 at 28.4% and has fallen ever since alongside the decline of coal, while renewable sources continued to grow. The only parts of the world where gas power is rising is in North America, parts of the Middle East, and Africa.
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Spain just launched one of its biggest marine solar energy projects to date with the “Paiporta” platform, a megawatt floating photovoltaic system designed to operate in offshore waters and port environments.
The project is a huge step forward for Spain when it comes to renewable energy. Instead of competing for agricultural land and forests, offshore floating solar installations have been shown to speed up the energy transition by taking advantage of underutilized marine surfaces.
The design of the floating solar farm itself has an added benefit. The cooling effect of the water beneath the platforms reduces the risk of panels overheating, which in turn generates higher electricity. Researchers from Oregon State University said that the cooling effect on floating solar farms can boost panel efficiency by up to 15%.
Why is this good news? When offshore solar farms succeed on a large scale, it helps reduce dependence on fossil fuels and cut greenhouse gas emissions — all while avoiding many of the land-use conflicts that often slow new energy projects.
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A new study found that China’s swift shift to electric vehicles has cut urban air pollution so much, it’s prevented an estimated 262,000 premature deaths. It’s among the strongest evidence so far that transit electrification brings real-world public health benefits.
Using air quality data and machine learning across 150 cities, researchers found that the growth of “new energy vehicles” – including battery-electric, plug-in hybrid, and hydrogen – was linked to a 28.80% reduction in PM2.5, and a 30.67% reduction in carbon monoxide.
They then estimated that improvement in air quality prevented an estimated 262,000 non-accidental deaths, as well as around 75,000 all-cause deaths.
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Before its cancellation, “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” poked fun at its parent network. In the finale, Colbert read a headline about how license holders for Vince Guaraldi’s famous “Peanuts” compositions frequently sue for unauthorized use of the music.
Immediately after, the house band, Louis Cato and the Great Big Joy Machine, began playing the Guaraldi tune: “Linus and Lucy.” In response, Colbert smiled and said, “Oh no! I hope this doesn’t cost CBS any money!”
CBS just confirmed it would pay the licensing fee. The license holders, Lee Mendelson Film Productions, announced they would donate the payout to World Central Kitchen — the same nonprofit that “The Late Show” recently donated $2.5 million to.
Why is this good news? World Central Kitchen was founded by Chef José Andrés in 2010. Since then, their organization has served over 600 million chef-prepared meals to people around the world, often at the heart of natural disasters and the frontline of humanitarian crises.
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According to new research, the COVID-19 vaccine lowered the risk of cardiovascular death from the virus by nearly 60%, the risk of heart attack by around 40%, and the risk of stroke by over 30%.
The researchers also found that the risk reduction for these health issues was greatest for people over the age of 75 and those with preexisting health conditions.
The study looked at the impact of the vaccine on these health conditions in veterans in particular, and supports findings from prior research.
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Prior to the enactment of the 13th Amendment in 1865 — and the origin of the Juneteenth holiday two years later — anti-literacy laws in southern states across the U.S. continued to impact formerly enslaved people.
While responses to their newfound freedom varied, a primary goal of newly freed people was to receive an education. They gathered in churches, homes, cellars, sheds, and more to learn how to read and write.
About 90% of the Black population in Southern states were illiterate in 1865 — that percentage dropped to 70% by 1880. In the 15 years following the Civil War, a total of 59 HBCUs had opened their doors to Black students.
Juneteenth is a celebration of that progress — and the continued struggle for true freedom and equality.
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Arizona wildlife experts saved a baby coyote after he was found covered in hundreds of cholla cactus barbs. The Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center said the four-week-old pup is recovering well after two and a half hours of careful cactus removal.
Ariana Grande launched a new foundation that will help protect trans and LGBTQ+ rights. Also supporting youth mental health and arts education, the Brighter Days Ahead Foundation includes four different funds that partner with existing organizations including Lambda Legal, Trans Lifeline, and more.
A Florida sea turtle made a miraculous recovery after a boat propeller cut open the underbelly of its shell. A vet at the Florida Aquarium said the sea turtle has its “feisty” attitude back and will soon return to the ocean.
Charli XCX is donating 50% of ticket sales from her “Music, Fashion, Film” tour to the Transgender Law Center. The human rights group is the largest American transgender-led civil rights organization in the US.
Researchers found that weather radar data could be used to reduce the risk of bird collisions with wind turbines. Strategically shutting down turbines when particularly large numbers of birds are in flight could save birds while having a minimal impact on electricity production.
Farmers in a national park are turning down lights to protect wildlife and improve the health of their crops. Research indicates that pressures on ecosystems from things like light pollution could also create a devastating decline in the insect population, and subsequently, the food chain.
Defying a statewide ban on rainbow crosswalks, El Paso wrapped Pride flags around its street lights. City officials collaborated with local LGBTQ+ communities to find a legal loophole around Governor Greg Abbott’s 2025 order.
Matt Damon is challenging Gap, Starbucks, and Amazon to roll back irresponsible water consumption. Damon’s nonprofit, Water.org, successfully pressured America’s biggest corporations to give back by embedding water philanthropy into day-to-day operations.
Kyrgyzstan established a “climate-ready corridor” for snow leopards, argali sheep, and wild goats. The corridor connects 2 million acres of pastureland, forest, and high-altitude landscapes and is designed to protect wildlife from predicted climate scenarios.
In new trials, dogs consistently detected spotted lanternfly eggs that experts had missed, outperforming humans 2-to-1. Thanks to the trial’s success, researchers believe everyday dogs and their owners could be crucial to early pest detection.
Thanks to new, living “microbots,” scientists are one step closer to repairing spinal cord injuries. The tiny robots, which are a tenth of the width of a human hair, are already being used to repair damaged nerve tissue in laboratory mice.
Residents in a Pennsylvania town are fighting back against proposed data centers that could cover 14% of their town. Residents of Archbald, Pennsylvania are creating the blueprint for how to protect communities from the noise, heat, and utility costs of massive data centers.
A Scottish man is walking 3,200 miles from Los Angeles to Boston for the World Cup while raising money for men’s mental health. Craig Ferguson’s mission is rooted in the loss suffered by his best friend, Struan, whose father, Russell, died by suicide seven years ago.
More than 50 organizations and 25 countries launched a new alliance to protect the Atlantic Ocean’s leatherback sea turtles. Leatherbacks are classified as “vulnerable” globally on the IUCN Red List, but more recent regional conservation status assessments for the turtles show more concern about their status.
Amtrak delivered its first high-speed train for final testing in Seattle ahead of passenger service launch later this year. It’s the first of eight that will replace the aging fleet of passenger trains currently serving the Amtrak Cascades route, and 83 trains Amtrak plans to deploy around the country.
Researchers created a 3D-printable architectural material made out of yeast. Traditional construction materials are long-lasting and durable, but also contribute a large amount to global emissions and consumption of resources, while the yeast-based material is biodegradable, sustainable, and zero-waste.
Mushrooms helped remove sewage and filter out 80% of E. coli bacteria in a U.K. river. In a separate trial, a similar mushroom filter barricade caught 83% of phosphorus and 35% of nitrogen from rainwater running off farmers’ fields.
A rare olive ridley sea turtle was seen nesting in Florida for the first time ever. Olive ridleys, also known as Pacific ridley sea turtles, are among the most abundant sea turtle species in the world and are primarily found in India, Mexico, and Costa Rica.
A first-of-its-kind hepatitis B drug is helping a subset of patients achieve a “functional cure.” In recent trials, 1 in 5 patients saw their virus reduced to levels low enough for their natural immune system to keep it in check.
The biggest expansion in federal scholarship money in 50 years is set to launch this summer. The new policy, known as Workforce Pell, widens the scope of federal Pell Grants by helping lower-income learners pay not just for associate or bachelor’s degrees, but for nondegree job training in high-demand fields.
A six-year-old girl in England has had her eyesight fully restored after a pioneering eye gene therapy. The little girl, Saffie, had been born with a rare condition called Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis, which causes low vision from infancy.
U.K. conservationists just welcomed a new baby pancake tortoise, giving hope for one of the world’s most endangered reptiles. The new hatchling is the child of tortoise parents Waffle and Maple and will soon be named by the public.
Scientists at the University of Missouri mapped 2,000 acres of land to better understand how nature has progressed in the last 200 years. The field research is part of the Lewis and Clark Trail Resurvey, which aims to map America’s forests ahead of the country’s 250th anniversary.
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A former BBC broadcaster is attempting to drive across the UK in a solar-powered electric vehicle (EV).
Jeremy Hart, who was a Formula 1 commentator for many years, is leading a team of four people on the 1,000 mile (1,609km) journey from Lands End to John O'Groats.
The group want to demonstrate how solar power can be used in combination with electric charging units to create renewable energy for transportation.
Despite the UK's reputation among some for bad weather, he said: "The UK actually, bizarrely, with our mixture of rain and increasingly warm weather, is not a bad place at all to run solar panels," Hart said.
"What we're doing is a bit out of the ordinary, but it's not beyond the realms of very close reality, in the next couple of years," he added.
Hart spent 20 years working as a Formula 1 presenter and commentator and 10 years on the World Rally Championship for the BBC.
He has embarked on several challenges, including driving around the world and taking a Formula E electric racing car to the Arctic.
"I just love finding amazing things to do with cars which haven't been done before," said Hart.
"As far as we can tell, nobody has ever taken a family electric vehicle and powered it entirely by the good old British summer sunshine."
Electric cars sales have increased over the years but very few are fuelled solely by solar power.
The team will charge their car at solar farms using an EV charger, with the help of backup portable solar-charged battery units.
On the first day of the challenge – named the Easee Sun Run – the team will mark the Summer Solstice at Stonehenge in Wiltshire and charge up at the UK's first commercial solar park near Chard, Somerset.
Over the coming days they will visit various solar installations throughout the UK, aiming to reach John O'Groats in Scotland on 24 June.
"The Easee Sun Run goes a long way to showing what clean mobility is capable of today," said Anthony Fernandez, CEO of electric vehicle company Easee.
"In connecting electric vehicles, renewable generation and energy storage into one flexible ecosystem that works together efficiently, clean transport can become more resilient and more accessible," he added.
Follow BBC Bristol on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.
A round-up of stories from local newspapers and the BBC from the past week in the West of England.
Councillor Andrew Eade says the plans would harm the landscape and mean a loss of valuable farmland.
Alan Beckett, 68, enjoyed the kindness of strangers during his 804 miles of catching buses.
Campaigners say plans for Kingsway Solar Farm have been "poorly conceived and badly designed".
Inspectors say the there is an "unmet need" for the plant, which would be used to store energy.
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Much of the North American Arctic remains dependent on fossil fuels, both for heating and electricity generation. Such dependence creates greater economic and energy insecurity, and increased health impacts for those relying on older, less efficient generators. In remote areas where the sun stays below the horizon for months in the winter, the idea of investing in solar energy that is intermittent and reliant on natural sources may seem counterintuitive. However, the findings in this paper indicate that the case for solar electricity in the Far North may be stronger than previously thought.
The populations in the Arctic regions of Canada, Alaska, Greenland, and parts of Russia are stable or declining. Over the last decade, electricity demand growth has been flat overall in these regions. There are two local exceptions: 1) where electricity is being used to supply a load formerly provided by direct fuel use, such as heating, and 2) where an additional load has emerged, such as a new mineral extraction project. Neither exception is common, although the latter will expand if demand for strategic minerals, such as rare earths, leads to new mining projects.
The marginal cost of power in most Arctic villages is the cost of diesel fuel. Each kilowatt hour (kWh, or kilowatt-hour of electricity) produced by a new solar facility is a kWh-e of power not generated by a diesel facility. If the annualized capital cost of the renewable generator, measured in cents per kWh, is less than the cost of diesel fuel that would otherwise be burned, then the solar system may be a good investment. The capital costs of an existing diesel facility are sunk—that is, consumers will still have to pay these costs whether the plant is used or not. For example, if a village invests in a solar system, the remaining capital costs of the diesel generator and its maintenance expenses will still have to be paid by consumers. Power from the diesel generator will be needed when it is not sunny, which comprises a significant part of the year in Alaska. The only cost savings from such an investment stem from the cost of the diesel oil that is not burned when the solar-generated electricity is consumed. If the total cost of the solar-generated electricity is greater than the cost of the diesel oil not burned, then communities should forego investing in solar generation. If the cost of the diesel oil is greater than the investment in solar, the investment in a solar photovoltaic (PV) system could be worth seriously exploring.
Several factors in the North American Arctic affect this calculation. Most villages in this region are not interconnected by either electric transmission systems or roads. Each village acts as a mini grid without access to economies of scale enjoyed by larger cities and towns. The absence of roads means that equipment and fuel must be delivered by sea or air. Delivering diesel fuel or sections of a renewable generator by barge can be expensive. In some instances, villages can only be accessed by airplanes, and therefore, the costs of transporting either diesel fuel or renewable systems can be extremely high. In remote villages, the cost of transportation can double the effective price of energy.
Unless villages can be reached by large ships, diesel supplies arrive once or twice per year, locking in the cost of the fuel for six months or more. For example, if oil is delivered in November at a certain price, the cost of diesel fuel in that community will not change until the next cargo arrives, which could be in May or June. When global oil prices are rapidly increasing, locking in the price can be beneficial, but when prices are falling, the opposite is true. Fluctuating fossil-fuel prices cause problems everywhere, but those are compounded for most Arctic villages by multi-month lock-in of periodic price peaks for what is generally their only option for electricity generation.
This paper looks at the potential for solar power in the North American Arctic, using northwest Alaska as a case study. Admittedly, the villages in this region vary considerably. Some are in boroughs that contain mining or oil and gas developments; these villages have sources of revenue that are not available to villages in other boroughs. Some villages border the coast and thus are vulnerable to sea level rise and land erosion, while others are inland with limited transportation access. Some towns are financially self-sufficient, while others must rely on financial assistance. There is no typical “village.” Villages in the Canadian Arctic, in Greenland, and in western Siberia differ in some ways from those in Alaska but share their isolation and dependence on diesel-fired generators.
The metric for calculating the cost of a solar PV system is the levelized cost of energy (sLCOE). This metric divides the total cost of the energy system over its lifetime by the total energy produced over the same period.1 It combines capital costs (i.e., estimates of debt and equity), operation and maintenance (O&M), performance, and fuel costs. It does not include financing elements such as graduated discount rates, depreciation costs, and battery costs. (See the Department of Energy National Renewable Energy Laboratory2 for more information on sLCOE calculations.)
We have selected six villages for our analysis: Kivalina, Kotzebue, Deering, Selawik, Ambler, and Kobuk. They were selected because of:
As North Slope oil production dwindles, Alaska’s state treasury faces decreasing revenue, forcing the state to cut its budget. These cuts affect university research and governmental data collection. Therefore, obtaining information on electricity costs, investments, and other energy-related data at the city or village level is challenging. Available data often vary with observations on the ground. During the 2021-2023 period, several locations observed prices as high as $9 per gallon,4 and in one case as high as $16 per gallon.5 Yet the official prices often were much lower. Finally, costs in one village may not be consistent with those collected in another. However, from discussions with people on the ground, we are confident that the numbers used in our calculations are reasonable.
The retail market for power in rural Alaska is influenced by a variety of subsidies. For instance, the Power Cost Equalization (PCE) program provides rural communities with relief from high electricity rates due to high diesel fuel costs.6 Administered by the Alaska Energy Authority, the program seeks to equalize electricity costs in rural Alaska with those in urban areas by providing a per kWh subsidy on electricity rates.
In Nome, the PCE program subsidizes the local electricity rate, reducing the cost per kWh. This allows Nome residents to pay electricity costs more comparable to those in the relatively urban parts of the state. The PCE program has a substantial impact: 2020 estimates show that in some communities it lowers residential prices by nearly 50%. As a result, consumers in rural Alaska do not pay the actual cost of power.
Alaska has also implemented a subsidy program to stimulate the deployment of renewable energy. The Alaska Renewable Energy Fund, established in 2008, encourages investment in renewable generation, but most of the $317 million in state expenditures from this fund has been used to develop hydropower and wind generation. It was not until 2023 that the fund was committed in perpetuity—as a permanent component of Alaska’s energy infrastructure policy.7 As a result, it does not provide a reliable representation of solar generation costs, nor can it provide year-on-year data trends. Consequently, we have created hypothetical solar cost profiles, using data from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) plus rough estimates of transport and operation costs.
As mentioned earlier, the capital costs of existing diesel generators are sunk and must be paid regardless of how often the asset is used. Any new solar capacity reduces the amount of diesel fuel consumed. An analysis of the economic viability of solar investment compares the cost of power from a renewable facility to the cost of the diesel oil not consumed. For instance, if a solar farm was built to serve a village but only produced power for an average of six hours per day for seven months, the comparison would be the total cost of generating the solar power compared with the cost of the diesel oil not consumed in that seven-month period.
For example, if 100% of the electricity in a hypothetical community was supplied by diesel generators, the consumers would pay for the capital costs of the generators as well as the costs of fueling and maintaining them. If the community chooses to invest in solar energy, the existing electric generator will not disappear. It would still supply much of the community’s electricity. The consumers would still have to pay for the capital costs of the electric generator because no configuration of solar systems—even with batteries—can meet more than a portion of the region’s electricity demand due to the number of hours without sunlight. Solar energy can only save a portion of the annual consumption of diesel oil. The question is whether the amount saved would justify the solar facility.
What if a village had no electricity and was starting from scratch, but intended to meet a portion of its demand with solar energy? Would this scenario significantly change the economics? No, the village would still have to invest in diesel generators to back up the solar (or wind) system. Even with battery storage, solar-generated electricity would not be sufficient to meet demand 24/7. Solar investments do not eliminate the need for diesel generators; they only reduce the amount of electricity needed from those generators and thus the amount of diesel oil that the generator uses. In summary, for solar-powered electricity to be economic in northwest Alaska, it must be cheaper than the diesel oil consumption foregone.
Table 1 presents the average diesel prices for six communities in northwest Alaska from 2018 to late 2023, as reported by the Northwest Arctic Borough.
What is striking about these numbers is that they differ substantially from one community to another and from one year to another.
Unlike using a pipeline or an electric transmission line, where the cost of transport is predictable and regulated, the cost of transporting oil products in Alaska is market-driven and often set by negotiations with the barge or plane owner. As mentioned earlier, these costs can differ from week to week, depending on availability and weather. In 2022 and 2023, the cost of generating electricity from diesel increased, driven by the global increase in petroleum prices. Although these elevated prices may prove to be transitory, they demonstrate the volatility of fossil fuels.
Due to these and other factors, electricity generated by diesel generators at unsubsidized wholesale prices is estimated to cost more than double the 2022 U.S. national average wholesale price of $0.11/kWh.8 In locations such as Kobuk and Ambler, the difference can be five to six times higher. It is important to remember that the prices that consumers see are the subsidized prices, not the actual prices. Further, smaller generation systems can be more expensive to run than larger systems on a cost per kilowatt basis because they are often much less efficient.
The cost of the diesel fuel burned per kWh-e generated is calculated by dividing the cost of diesel fuel ($/gallon) by the fuel efficiency of the generator, measured in kWh-e per gallon:
Fuel cost ($/kWh-e) = diesel cost ($/gal) / generator fuel efficiency (kWh-e/gal)
The diesel costs in our calculations are from Table 1. The generator fuel efficiencies, acquired from the Northwest Arctic Borough Community Profiles, are shown in Table 3, below. Table 3 also shows the generator efficiencies expressed as a percentage, calculated by dividing the fuel efficiency in kWh-e by the thermal energy content of diesel fuel. Distillate Oil No. 1 contains 139,000 Btu/gal, while Distillate Oil Diesel contains 137,381 Btu/gal.9 Given that the difference is about 1%, we use 139,000 Btu/gal in our calculations. This yields a thermal energy equivalent of 139,000 Btu/gal / 3412 Btu/kWh-t = 40.74 kWh-t/gal, where kWh-t describes thermal kilowatt-hours.
The fuel efficiencies in Table 2 may be overestimates, since many village diesel generators are getting older and may no longer be operating at optimal efficiencies as recorded for the Northwest Arctic Borough. The magnitude of this effect is impossible to estimate with available data. Notwithstanding, the equation above demonstrates that fuel costs per kWh are very sensitive to changes in generation efficiency.
Table 3 shows the fuel costs for electricity generation from diesel in our selected villages, calculated as described. These are conservative estimates, and it is probable that actual generator efficiencies are lower due to degradation over time.
Solar energy development in the Arctic faces unique challenges due to extreme seasonal variations in daylight hours, limited solar insolation, and harsh weather conditions. Alaska’s high latitude results in extreme variations in the number of daylight hours throughout the year. During the winter months, the region experiences limited sunlight, with some areas experiencing complete darkness for several weeks. Conversely, in summer months, there are extended periods of daylight, which provide abundant solar energy. Thus, solar systems can produce substantial electricity in the summer months and negligible amounts during mid- winter.
The harsh weather conditions in Alaska, including extreme cold, snow, and ice, also pose challenges for solar panel installation, operation, and maintenance. Snow and ice accumulation on panels can reduce their efficiency while extreme cold can impact their performance. The remote and isolated nature of many communities complicates the transportation and installation of solar panels and associated equipment; the absence of existing renewable energy infrastructure amplifies these difficulties. The expected monthly solar output and the seasonal load profiles of communities can differ substantially across the state. As mentioned earlier, our analysis presumes that a kilowatt-hour produced from renewable sources displaces a kilowatt-hour that would otherwise be generated by stove oil.
The LCOE calculation for the cost of solar generation included:
Solar irradiance: This is the fundamental driver of a solar panel’s energy output, determined by geographical location, time of year, and time of day. PVWatts is a calculator developed by NREL for estimating the energy production and cost savings of grid-connected solar PV systems. By providing information about a specific location, system size, and other parameters, users can analyze the expected performance of a solar PV system. See Appendix 1 for additional information about PVWatts.
PVWatts uses solar radiation and weather data, along with user inputs, to model the energy output of a PV system over time. It considers factors such as solar panel efficiency, system losses, and local weather conditions to provide an estimate of the system’s energy production. As one would expect, the amount of power produced during the four months from November through February is negligible. Interestingly, the highest insolation rates in northwest Alaska are in April (over six hours per day), as June and July are traditionally cloudier.
Inputting the system size and using the default assumptions offered by PVWatts, for each month of the year for each village, we calculate the annual energy production from a 1.35 MW solar farm in each village based on location-specific solar irradiation and geographic parameters. This value determines the power generating ability of a system over the course of its lifetime to determine the sLCOE for solar.
In our analysis, summarized in Table 3, we use three estimates for solar PV costs: 1) a typical or base estimate, 2) a low-cost estimate, and 3) a high-cost estimate. We compare these estimates to diesel prices for 2018-2023. This forms our ‘base case’. The low case represents a cost that is 20% lower than the base case, representing steep price declines in costs for purchasing and installing solar PV systems. The high case is represented by a 20% increase from the base case, illustrating more challenging situations such as an increase in the costs of transporting, installing and maintaining solar PV systems.
Through the years, the cost of generating electricity from diesel has risen, primarily driven by increases in the cost of fuel, which in some villages reached levels over $10 per gallon in late 2023. Given historical fluctuations in global oil markets, diesel prices could rise and fall substantially from one year to the next. As discussed earlier, solar generation is more expensive in rural Alaska than in other parts of the United States due to higher transport, installation, and O&M costs. Notwithstanding, the capital costs of new solar systems continue to fall.
In Table 5, our analysis shows that in 2023 solar was cost-effective in four out of the six villages studied—Kotzebue, Selawik, Ambler, and Kobuk—even under base or high-cost scenarios. However, in Kivalina and Deering, solar generation remains more expensive than diesel, especially in the base and high-cost estimates. In these two communities, diesel fuel costs are lower due to better access or efficiency, making diesel the more economical option under current assumptions.
Our estimates may be biased against solar due to the potentially high efficiency numbers for diesel generators we employ. Furthermore, we ignore the health externalities from exposure to air pollution, which can be particularly acute in some Alaskan villages. Crude oil price fluctuations would further impact this price comparison. For example, if oil prices drop to 2021 levels, generating electricity with diesel would be less expensive in Kotzebue, Deering, and Kivalina. On the other hand, if they remain at 2023 levels, solar generation would be cost effective in five of the six communities. The cost of diesel oil will remain volatile and, thus, the cost of oil generated electricity will fluctuate significantly from one year to the next. On the other hand, the cost of electricity from a solar system will be a function of its initial capital costs and will not change over time. If one believes that world oil prices will decrease into the range of $50 per barrel and stay there for the next decade, then solar is a much less attractive option for northwest Alaska. If one believes that that oil prices will fluctuate from $50 to around $100 per barrel then investing in solar energy is an option worth considering.
As outlined in the rationale above, we use a discount rate of 5.8% and a project lifetime of 25 years. If one assumes that discount rates will be lower, the relative advantage of substituting solar power for diesel-fueled generation improves. The opposite is the case if discount rates increase. The private discount rate will reflect the cost of equity, which in Alaska will be greater than 10%. If solar systems have no subsidies and must be funded only by private equity (i.e., no debt available), then the cost of solar becomes less competitive. This outcome would be true for almost any fossil-fueled generation.
As shown in Figure 1, in places like Ambler and Kobuk where diesel costs are high, solar can be a viable alternative by a significant margin. The high cost of diesel in these places can be partially attributed to high non-fuel expenses (~35% higher than in Kotzebue) as a result of distance from ports and small populations. Smaller populations tend to either have to transport smaller quantities of fuel at one time, making each trip more expensive, or buy in bulk and bear additional storage costs and price fluctuations at the time of purchase. Kivalina also has very high non-fuel expenses (56% higher than Kotzebue), but its proximity to ports allows for relatively cheap diesel prices (in recent years, cheaper than Kotzebue). As a result, in Kivalina, diesel generation remains more economical than solar generation.
There are four factors that might alter these numbers, each of which favors renewable energy.
Carbon pricing initiatives are currently in force in 55 national jurisdictions across the globe, with an additional 44 in subnational jurisdictions.17 Hafstead and Picciano at Resources for the Future calculate that a $40 per ton tax would increase diesel prices by approximately $0.40 per gallon.18 By itself, a $40 per ton carbon tax would significantly improve the cost competitiveness of solar energy. That said, as of 2025, the likelihood of a carbon tax or a cap-and-trade program being enacted by Congress in the next few years remains slim.
A technological breakthrough that would have a positive impact for small Arctic villages unconnected to transmission networks would be cost-competitive electricity storage and, specifically, mid- and long-term battery storage. Battery systems that would allow residences to store two to three days of power at a competitive price would dramatically expand the number of kilowatts that could be harvested from a solar system, particularly in the shoulder months of May and August. They would also allow villages to build larger solar systems, thereby taking advantage of economies of scale and reducing the cost per kWh of the power produced. Accessibility remains a key question. In 2021, NREL projected shorter term (4-5 hours) battery storage prices to reach $208 per kWh by 2030 and $156 by 2050.19 Recent projections in 202520 show that battery prices have already slipped below the $200 per kWh goal. While shorter-term storage has advantages, the overall benefits are limited.
Storage for periods of time measured in days as opposed to hours would provide significant benefits, but such technologies are not yet available at commercially competitive prices and are unlikely to be so prior to 2030.21 While longer and more cost-effective storage would increase the kilowatt-hours of available solar-generated electricity while reducing the number of hours that diesel generators would have to operate, there are several caveats. First, batteries transported to northwest Alaska will be much more expensive than in the lower 48 states. The more batteries that are installed, the more hours that solar can be used, but also the more expensive the storage costs. Under these conditions, the cost advantage of solar generation is so narrow that batteries might shift our cost comparison to favor diesel facilities. That said, as battery technologies and costs improve, this situation may change. Secondly, even if today’s batteries were cost-effective, diesel generation will be needed to provide electricity for 20-30% of the day. As we have said repeatedly, solar power by itself does not replace the need for some diesel generation; it only reduces the overall quantity of diesel oil that must be burned.
Diesel oil contains more than 40 toxic air contaminants and increases the risk of respiratory illnesses, heart and lung disease, and cancer.22 Residents of northwest Alaska are known to be more vulnerable to respiratory diseases, such as asthma, and such diseases exhibit higher rates among Native children.23,24 Alaskan communities have some of the highest rates of respiratory morbidity documented for any Native population – susceptibility to which is heightened by exposure to diesel exhaust – is five times higher in Alaska Native children than the general U.S. population.
The combustion of diesel oil in generators that cannot meet federal air standards is a major contributor to these health problems. In 2020, Congress exempted Alaska from EPA Tier 4 restrictions on particulate emissions from diesel generators, locking in emission levels that exceed national standards, to allow villages to avoid purchasing more expensive equipment and paying higher maintenance costs.
While the actual costs of air pollutants for Alaska’s villages require additional analysis beyond this paper’s scope, exposure to these pollutants raises the local cost of burning diesel oil. That is, the village population pays for both the diesel fuel and the health costs of breathing the exhaust from burning that fuel. The result is that investment in renewable generators that emit no particulates or other toxic air contaminants provides even greater benefits than a simple kWh comparison would indicate.
As discussed earlier, the largest subsidy in Alaska has been the PCE program, which reduces the actual price of electricity generated from diesel-fueled facilities. This subsidy is an implicit disincentive to invest in renewable power. It is unlikely to be removed, since it enables poorer Alaskans to access affordable electricity, but perhaps it might be amended to work in tandem with subsidies to help accelerate the deployment of renewables and, eventually, storage.
In 2021 and 2022, Congress passed additional subsidy programs to accelerate the deployment of clean energy. These programs (including the Renewable Energy Production Tax Credit [PTC], the Investment Tax Credit [ITC], and the Clean Renewable Energy Bonds [CREB]) have the potential to reduce the capital costs of both wind and solar generators. Tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) would have had a large impact on the relative economics of solar energy across the United States, including the Arctic regions of Alaska.
However, the Trump administration and the U.S. Congress oppose the continued funding of many subsidies and tax credits under the IRA. With the passage of recent legislation, most of the renewable electricity tax credits will be phased out over the next two years.25 Future administrations may reverse these actions and pass new subsidies that would enhance the relative economics of solar energy advantage, but over the next three years, renewable energy alternatives are unlikely to receive measurable federal subsidies.
Diesel fuel prices have historically been volatile, fluctuating from one year to another. More importantly for Alaska, the expense of transporting fuel, particularly for Arctic villages that are not directly on the coast, adds a very high-cost premium. To an extent, dependence on diesel oil creates an inherent financial security problem for both the state and villages. Neither has any control over oil price fluctuations, which can affect both state and local budgets. An advantage of renewables is that most of their costs are upfront; thus, there is no cost uncertainty once the system is operational, and the impact on budgets becomes predictable. There is a clear security advantage for renewable investments.
As shown in our analysis, solar-powered systems are currently economical options in many parts of rural Alaska, with some regions enjoying greater benefits than others. Alaska subsidizes diesel fuel, and the total cost of these subsidies in 2019 was over $29.6 million. We attempted to filter out these subsidies, but we may not have succeeded in every case. Further, we did not account for the carbon and air pollution externalities that should be added to these prices. If storage options continue to advance and costs come down, the option of renewables plus storage could be a boon to Arctic communities.
The notion of building solar-powered systems in the Arctic regions of Alaska seems counter-intuitive given the long dark winters and the extreme cold. However, energy markets are changing, the costs of these systems are declining, and the total costs of relying on diesel generators are becoming better understood and remain high. Further, the public is becoming more aware of the impacts of burning diesel fuel on public health. There is a clear trend towards greater use of solar energy, and, if coupled with less expensive storage, this trend is likely to accelerate over the next ten years, even in the coldest and most remote areas of Alaska.
PVWatts is a web application developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) that estimates the electricity production of a grid-connected, roof- or ground-mounted photovoltaic system based on a few simple inputs. To use the calculator, information about the system’s location and basic design parameters is inputted manually by the user. PVWatts then calculates estimates of the system’s annual and monthly electricity production. PVWatts uses a set of assumptions that are appropriate for flat-plate photovoltaic systems with crystalline silicon or thin film modules. PVWatts results are not appropriate for systems using concentrating collectors, or for modules using novel cell technologies or module designs.
The kilowatt-hour per year (kWh/year) value that appears at the top of the “Results” page (as seen in Figure 1) and the monthly values in the table are sums of the hourly output values over those periods. PVWatts calculates these values using long-term typical year solar resource data. These results do not represent the quantity of electricity that a system generates in a particular year. Instead, they represent the typical electric production expected over a given period. In general, you can expect the system’s total electrical output for a given month of a particular year to vary by as much as ±30% from the long-term typical value. Similarly, the total annual output for a particular year may vary from the long-term typical value by as much as ±10%. For the purpose of this analysis, we assume that this value represents the typical system annual output.
To access PVWatts, visit: https://pvwatts.nrel.gov/index.php.
We would like to thank the Arctic Initiative for its support of this project. We would especially like to thank Yanchao Li, Rachel Mural, and Liz Hanlon. Several individuals provided substantial guidance, information, and support in the development of this paper, including Jenny Kwon, Ingemar Mathiasson, Fran Ulmer, and John Holdren. While we benefitted tremendously from their suggestions, the authors take full responsibility for the findings and conclusions of the research.
Lee, Henry and Windy Dewi. “Solar Energy in the Arctic: A Case Study of Northwest Alaska.” Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, September 14, 2025
Solar Energy in the Arctic: A Case Study of Northwest Alaska
Lee, Henry and Windy Dewi. “Solar Energy in the Arctic: A Case Study of Northwest Alaska.” Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, September 14, 2025
AI, Data Centers, and the U.S. Electric Grid: A Watershed Moment
Decarbonizing the U.S. Electricity Grid: Policy and Regulatory Frameworks and Challenges
From Arctic Initiative
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Discussions between Xcel Energy and St. Croix County on a joint development agreement concerning construction of a new solar farm in western Wisconsin have broken down, with Xcel attorneys formally leaving the negotiating table last month.
The Ten Mile Creek project calls for 300 megawatts to be generated on solar panels spread across 2,980 acres of leased land in St. Croix County. The project also includes building and routing a new transmission line to the existing grid connections at Xcel’s Allen S. King Power Plant in Oak Park Heights.
St. Croix County Administrator Ken Witt announced Xcel’s intentions at the County Board of Supervisors meeting on June 2.
“Their response is, ‘No JDA, we plan to file at the end of the year with the (state Public Service Commission) and maybe we’ll talk again after that.’ So that’s the status,” Witt said of the letter sent on behalf of Xcel Energy. “It takes two to negotiate, so there’s not really any action that you can take to force them to.”
On the part of Xcel Energy, company officials told the Pioneer Press that county officials had stopped communicating with Xcel’s team for months, only to submit a substantially different set of conditions.
“While the county has suggested that Xcel Energy chose to end negotiations, the reality is that discussions had ended seven months prior after the county stopped meeting or communicating with us,” Xcel spokesperson Chris Ouellette said. “When a revised draft was eventually shared, it differed materially from prior versions and included significant new provisions that had not been discussed. At that point, we determined it was not productive to continue discussions based on that version of the document.”
Talks between the county and Xcel regarding the project have been ongoing since at least January 2025, when Xcel staff presented to the St. Croix County Board of Supervisors.
The project has been controversial for many landowners, who have voiced concerns about the potential property value impacts of a large-scale solar array close to their homes, as well as possible impacts to local wildlife and road infrastructure during construction, among other concerns. The panels would exist on parcels of private property, where Xcel officials would enter 35-year leasing contracts.
Theoretically, a joint development agreement would provide contractual protections between the county and a developer on a proposed project.
From the county’s perspective, the draft agreement needed to address potential local impacts such as emergency response planning, road use and repair, drainage, decommissioning of the solar farm, financial assurances, setbacks, buffering, lighting, wildlife protections and agricultural considerations.
Attorneys representing Xcel — Lisa Agrimonti and Haley Waller Pitts of the Minneapolis firm Fredrikson & Byron — said in a letter to St. Croix County legal representatives dated May 20 that the county’s most recent proposal went “well beyond the original intent and scope of those discussions,” and would impose additional burdens on Xcel Energy, as well as the county.
They continued that the terms could “conflict with Public Service Commission of Wisconsin and engineering requirements.”
“For example, although we have discussed this issue in detail already, the proposed draft would require Xcel Energy — a fully regulated public utility — to post financial assurance with the county related to decommissioning,” the attorneys wrote. “This new cost is in excess of PSCW requirements and outside of the county’s authority.”
They wrote that the county also added more than 40 new paragraphs plus revisions to other sections “without any discussion with Xcel Energy and their legal team.”
The Xcel legal representatives ended the letter by writing that it would be “more appropriate to recommence discussions after a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity application is filed with the PSCW, to the extent the parties see value in doing so at that time.”
On Wednesday, Ouellette reiterated that after the application is filed, the project details will be fully defined, and the county will have had the chance to review the contents.
Xcel would be open to future discussions at that time, she said.
The Ten Mile Creek project has drawn intense local interest. Back at the January 2025 meeting, residents filled the St. Croix County board room and hallways, bringing up concerns regarding the loss of agricultural land, possible impacts to property values, wildlife and local infrastructure, among other issues.
A month later, attorney Rebecca Roeker of Milwaukee-based Attolles Law presented to the county board regarding the merits of pursuing a joint development agreement. The county reviewed such a proposal for months, and in November hired Attolles Law to negotiate those terms. Soon after, Roeker and Xcel met for about four hours discussing potential terms of the joint development agreement.
Also in November, Xcel Energy announced plans to pare down the proposal to its current size. Originally, the Ten Mile Creek proposal included up to 650 megawatts of solar panel production on 5,000 acres spread across some 60 square miles of St. Croix County.
In February, the St. Croix County Community Development Committee reviewed the updated joint development agreement completed after the negotiations between Roeker and Xcel’s legal team, but the committee declined to recommend approval. Based on requests from the public, the committee said additional changes needed to be made to the agreement, and negotiations with Xcel should continue.
In April, Roeker incorporated those additional changes in the joint development agreement, and sent an updated proposal to Xcel Energy. But in May, Xcel’s legal team responded that they would be walking away from negotiations.
On June 11, the Community Development Committee recommended creating a resolution that acknowledges that Xcel terminated negotiations, while also stating that St. Croix County remains willing to restart talks if Xcel decides to join them. The county board is scheduled to consider such a resolution in July.
Xcel Energy representatives have said that they expect to file an application with the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin this year.
“At this time, we do not anticipate any impact to the overall project timeline,” Ouellette said.
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