A Supreme Court ruling, combined with an energy crunch and intraparty politics, makes it nearly impossible for President Biden to achieve his climate goals.
Tag Archives: Solar Energy
Can Dual-Use Solar Panels Provide Power and Share Space With Crops?
Companies like BlueWave are betting on it. But the technology has its critics.
Installing Rooftop Solar Can Be a Breeze. Just Look at Australia.
America’s solar power failures are mostly regulatory. That can be fixed.
Hit Hard by High Energy Costs, Hawaii Looks to the Sun
The state is seeking to replace coal and oil with solar energy, aiming to rely extensively on rooftop panels on single-family homes.
Afghanistan Tries to Stamp Out Opium Again
The multibillion-dollar trade has survived previous bans. Now, the Taliban are going after solar-powered water pumps to try to dry up poppy crops in the middle of a national economic crisis.
An Intimate Look at Mexico’s Indigenous Seri People
The identity of the Seri is integrally tied to their natural environment, which in recent years has been susceptible to an increasing number of existential threats.
La energía solar ofrece un salvavidas a Puerto Rico
La red energética de la isla ha tenido dificultades para recuperarse después de que el huracán María casi la anulara en 2017. Los sistemas de energía solar ofrecen a los puertorriqueños una forma de depender menos de la red.
Solar Power Offers Puerto Ricans a Lifeline but Remains an Elusive Goal
The island’s energy grid has struggled to recover after Hurricane María almost wiped it out in 2017. While solar-power systems can fill gaps, they aren’t cheap.
High Electric Bills Get Ready for Another Energy Price Spike: High Electric Bills
Rates have jumped because of a surge in natural gas prices and could keep rising rapidly for years as utilities invest in electric grids.
Solar Industry ‘Frozen’ As Biden Administration Investigates China
More than 300 solar projects in the United States have been canceled or delayed in recent weeks because of an investigation by the Commerce Department.
Amid Soaring Demand for Warehouses, an Effort to Make Them Greener
Some owners are taking steps to make their buildings more energy efficient, including upgrading building materials and turning the rooftops into solar farms.
We Can Limit Global Warming If We Don’t Waste Time
We don’t know exactly what a net-zero emissions energy system will look like, but we know enough to keep us busy for at least a decade.
Stopping Climate Change Is Doable, but Time Is Short, U.N. Panel Warns
A major new scientific report offers a road map for how countries can limit global warming, but warns that the margin for error is vanishingly small.
5 Takeaways From the U.N. Report on Limiting Global Warming
Current pledges to cut emissions, even if nations follow through on them, won’t stop temperatures from rising to risky new levels.
How the Recoil From Russian Gas Is Scrambling World Markets
Europe wants 50 billion cubic meters of additional natural gas, but supplies are tight. Prices will rise and other regions might have to do with less.
Will War Make Europe’s Switch to Clean Energy Even Harder?
A wind turbine factory in Denmark and a coal mine in Poland illustrate the painful policy choices after Russia’s aggression in Ukraine added urgency to the transition to greener energy.
Bitcoin Miners Want to Recast Themselves as Eco-Friendly
Facing intense criticism, the crypto mining industry is trying to change the view that its energy-guzzling computers are harmful to the climate.
Frustrated With Utilities, Some Californians Are Leaving the Grid
Citing more blackouts, wildfires and higher electricity rates, a growing number of homeowners are choosing to build homes that run entirely on solar panels and batteries.
How to Get Through a Power Outage
Be proactive before things go dark. Never use a gas stove or oven as an indoor heater.
A Fight Over Rooftop Solar Threatens California’s Climate Goals
Utility regulators have proposed slashing the incentives homeowners receive to install solar panels, a long-sought goal of utilities and labor unions.
Predictions Favored Solar Over Wind Power. What Happened?
One lesson: Renewable technology benefits from early, consistent government support.
‘Build Back Better’ Hit A Wall But Climate Action Could Move Forward
Some Democrats want to forge ahead with a stand-alone climate bill, but their solution could mean abandoning other parts of President Biden’s agenda.
Schwarzenegger: Solar Costs Could Rise if California Regulators Get Their Way
Removing incentives to encourage homeowners to install solar panels is a bad idea.
Coming Soon to This Coal County: Solar, in a Big Way
In Martin County, Ky., where coal production has flatlined, entrepreneurs are promising that a new solar farm atop a shuttered mine will bring green energy jobs.
U.S. Effort to Combat Forced Labor Targets Corporate China Ties
The Biden administration is expected to face scrutiny as it decides how to enforce a new ban on products made with forced labor in the Xinjiang region of China.
Biden Administration Approves Two California Solar Projects
The solar farms, planned for the California desert, would generate enough electricity to power about 132,000 homes, the Interior Department said.
Seeking Space for Solar Farms, Cities Find Room at Their Airports
Airports around the nation are installing solar arrays on unused land, roofs and parking garages, helping them achieve self-sufficiency while also providing power to their communities.
Inflation threatens record pace of renewable power rollout

Enlarge / Workers install photovoltaic panels on the roof at the reconstruction project of Fengtai Railway Station on November 12, 2021, in Beijing, China. (credit: Jia Tianyong/China News Service)
Around the world, countries installed renewable power at a record pace in 2021, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency. The trend is likely to continue for the next five years, with 95 percent of all new electrical generating capacity being renewable.
“This is equivalent to the current global power capacity of fossil fuels and nuclear combined,” the IEA said in the report.
Yet even then, the world will need to double the rate at which it adds renewable power in the next five years to remain on track to reach net zero in 2050. To keep pace with variable wind and solar power, energy storage will have to nearly double as well. The world can’t just add more renewable power—it has to replace existing fossil fuel plants as well.
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Will Germany’s ‘Debt Brake’ Stop Its Green Ambitions?
The new government has big plans to modernize the economy and switch to renewable energy. But the question remains how it will pay for it.
Biden Met With Xi. But Is His China Policy Right?
The truth is, America’s national security depends on cooperation a lot more than competition.
Developers Build More Net Zero Homes as Climate Concerns Grow
Demand for residences that produce as much energy as they consume is being spurred by climate concerns, consumer appetite and more affordable solar technology.
As Demand for Green Energy Grows, Solar Farms Face Local Resistance
Developers say industrial-scale farms are needed to meet the nation’s climate goals, but locals are fighting back against what they see as an encroachment on their pastoral settings.
Even as Biden Pushes Clean Energy, He Seeks More Oil Production
President Biden acknowledged “it seems like an irony” that he is asking energy-rich nations to boost oil production as he implores the world to tackle climate change.
Will the Glasgow Climate Summit Be the Breakthrough We Need?
Time is running down rapidly for the nations of the world to get control of their emissions.
Greece Pushes Green Energy Transformation to Fight Climate Change
As climate change bears down, Greece is upending its sources of energy and trying to reshape its economic destiny.
Old Power Gear Is Slowing Use of Clean Energy and Electric Cars
Some people and businesses seeking to use solar panels, batteries and electric vehicles find they can’t because utility equipment needs an upgrade.
N.Y. State Refuses to Expand Gas Power Plants in Queens and Newburgh
A decision to reject upgrades of two gas-powered power plants was a big win for climate advocates and was endorsed by Gov. Hochul.
Democrats Weigh Carbon Tax After Manchin Rejects Key Climate Provision
Faced with the likely demise of a central pillar of President Biden’s agenda, the White House and outraged lawmakers are scrambling to find alternatives.
How Best to Save the Planet
Readers debate whether solar geoengineering, advocated in a guest essay, is a good way to address global warming.
Key to Biden’s Climate Agenda Like to Be Cut Because of Manchin
The West Virginia Democrat told the White House he is firmly against a clean electricity program that is the muscle behind the president’s plan to battle climate change.
Key to Biden’s Climate Agenda Likely to Be Cut Because of Manchin Opposition
The West Virginia Democrat told the White House he is firmly against a clean electricity program that is the muscle behind the president’s plan to battle climate change.
China’s Power Problems Expose a Strategic Weakness
The country’s energy inefficiency and dependence on climate-damaging coal threaten to damage its image as a reliable manufacturing base.
Fossil-Fuel Use Could Peak in Just a Few Years. Still, Major Challenges Loom.
The world has made progress in the fight against climate change, with wind, solar and other clean technologies taking off. But more is needed to avert catastrophe, a new report finds.
Major Climate Action at Stake in Fight Over Twin Bills Pending in Congress
Legislation aimed at infrastructure and social programs also includes big changes in energy, transportation and disaster preparation. They would amount to the most significant climate action ever taken by the United States.
Are Tesla and Texas a Perfect Match? It’s Questionable.
While its C.E.O., Elon Musk, and the state’s conservative lawmakers share libertarian sensibilities, they differ greatly on climate change and renewable energy.
China’s Power Crunch Exposes Tensions Ahead of Key U.N. Climate Summit
Keeping global temperatures from dangerous levels means China must pivot away from coal immediately. Its soaring energy demand and rolling blackouts mean it probably won’t.
Can Geoegineering Fix Climate Change?
Pretending that climate change can be solved with emissions cuts alone is a dangerous fantasy.
Why Louisiana’s Electric Grid Failed in Hurricane Ida
Much of the state, including New Orleans, lost power for days because many of Entergy’s electrical poles and towers were not built to withstand a major hurricane, energy experts said.
The 4 things needed to reach Biden’s ambitious 2050 solar goal
A report on the future of solar energy from the Department of Energy paints a sunny picture, if you will, of the next three decades, at the end of which nearly half the country’s energy will be provided by the sun. But for that to happen, big pushes need to happen along four major lines: better photovoltaics, more energy storage, lower soft costs, and putting about a million people to work.
Here’s what the report says needs to happen in each of these sectors in order to meet the ambitious goals it sets out.
Better photovoltaics
The solar cells themselves will need to continue to improve in both cost and efficiency in order to achieve the kind of installation volumes hoped for by the DOE. For reference, 2020 saw 15 gigawatts worth of solar installed, the most ever — but we’re going to need to double that installation rate by 2025, then double it again by 2030.
If photovoltaics don’t improve in efficiency, that means these already ambitious numbers need to go even higher to account for that. And if they stay at today’s prices, the costs will be too high to achieve those volumes as well.
Fortunately efficiency is going up and cost is going down already. But it’s not like that just happens naturally. Companies and researchers across the globe have spent millions on new manufacturing processes, new materials, and other improvements, incremental individually but which add up over time. This basic research and advancement of the science and methods around solar must continue at or beyond the pace that they have over the last two decades.
The DOE suggests that research along the lines of making more exotic PVs cheaper, or stacking cells to minimize bandgap-related losses could be crucial. Flexible and tile- or shingle-like substrates or semi-transparent installations that pass light through to crops or building interiors may also figure. Altogether the plan calls for a reduction of the overall cost to drop by almost half from $1.30/watt today on average to $0.70 by 2030 and more after that.
Solar concentrators get their own heading in the report, and many companies are looking into these to replace industrial processes. These will not likely be used to support the grid at large but will nevertheless replace many fossil fuel based processes.
More energy storage
An unavoidable consequence of getting your energy from the sun is that at night you must rely on stored energy in some form or another, originally nuclear or coal but increasingly a form of storage that collects excess power collected during the daytime. With more of peak usage being covered by renewables, cities can safely transition away from carbon-based energy sources.
While we often think of energy storage in terms of batteries, and certainly they will be present, but the amount of energy that must be stored rules out something like lithium-ion batteries as the primary storage mechanism. Instead, the excess energy can be put towards powering energy-hungry renewable fuel production, like hydrogen fuel cells. This fuel can then be used to generate power when solar can’t meet demand.

The diagram shows how demand would normally go (purple) then how it would go with solar (orange) and how energy storage could mitigate that load (solid colors).
That’s just the “off the top of the head” answer. As the report states: “Thermal, chemical, and mechanical storage technologies are under various stages of development, including pumped thermal storage, liquid air energy storage, novel gravity-based technologies, and geological hydrogen storage.”
No doubt there will be a variety of new and old technologies working to provide the various levels of energy redundancy and storage duration needs of the country. These will go a long way towards making solar and other renewable energy sources capable of being relied on for a greater proportion of demand.
Lower soft costs
If we’re going to double and redouble the rate of solar cell deployment, the costs have to come down not just for the cells themselves, but the whole end-to-end process: assessment, accounting, labor, and of course the profit due to the companies that will be doing the actual work.
Lowering non-hardware costs is already the goal of many startups, like Aurora Solar, which clearly saw the writing on the wall and started making it as easy as possible to plan, visualize, and sell solar installations entirely online.
Right now the all-in cost of a solar roof might be twice the cost of the hardware or more. There are several contributors to this, from financing to regulations to markets, and each has its own intricacies beyond the scope of this article. Suffice it to say that if you can shave one percent off the cost of a solar installation by streamlining the time or cost involved in any of these areas, there will be more than enough volume to turn that one point into a major sum. It will take the combined efforts of many organizational and commercial minds to make this happen, just as it takes the efforts of many scientific ones to improve PVs.
A million jobs
Last but certainly not least, someone has to actually do all this work. That means a whole lot of labor — several times the quarter million people currently estimated to be attached to the solar industry in the country today.

Image Credits: Will Lester/Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (opens in a new window) / Getty Images
Jobs in this sector will run the gamut, from skilled workers with construction experience to energy professionals who’ve managed grids to public-private partnership wizards who connect commerce to the government’s inevitable top-down incentives. The additional half a million to a million jobs will almost certainly comprise many brand new companies and sub-industries, but the general breakdown so far has been about 65 percent installation and project development, 25 percent sales and manufacturing, and the rest in miscellaneous roles.
It is worth noting, however, that energy concerns currently clinging with white knuckles to aging oil and coal infrastructure will need to do right by the tens of thousands they still employ, and the renewable energy sector is a perfect transition space. “Throughout the transition, certain fossil fuel companies may come under increasing financial distress,” the report reads, which is something of an understatement. The authors strongly suggest funding transition programs that cover training, relocation, and guarantees of existing financial benefits like pensions.
The report points out that the solar industry is overwhelmingly white and male, like a few others we could name, so it is probably worth putting in work on that front if the million hires are to be at all equitable.
You can browse the full study here.
Biden Offers Ambitious Blueprint for Solar Energy
The Energy Department analysis provides only a broad outline, and many of the details will be decided by congressional lawmakers.