Solar Power

The silicon solar cell was invented in 1954. In the 1970s and 1980s, solar panels first started appearing on roofs. But even by the turn of the century, the total global capacity was below 5 GW. Over the next decade, European and Japanese programs drove early adoption and by 2010, the global total was about 40 GW. The next decade saw dramatic reductions in the cost of solar modules and a period of rapid growth ensued.

Solar panels produced 51% of California’s electricity during the month of May. This was the first time the clean energy source produced more than half the state’s power for an entire month. But it wasn’t just a milestone for California; it was a milestone for the whole world. California was the first major economy to cross the 50% threshold for an entire month. In June 2025, Hungary produced 47% of its power with solar, but Hungary’s GDP is far smaller than that of California.

The largest solar energy project in the United States is under construction in Arkansas. The Steel River Energy Center will eventually include 2.5 GW of solar and 2.9 GWh of battery energy storage.

During the past year, there has been growing interest in the U.S. in balcony solar: small solar panel systems that are hung up outside and send power straight into wall sockets to partially offset people’s utility bills. These systems first appeared in Germany in the late 2010s and spread through Europe when energy prices spiked because of the war in Ukraine. German households had installed more than four million systems as of last year.

A space mirror satellite is an orbiting spacecraft that features a large deployable reflective surface. Its purpose is to redirect sunlight and beam it down to a specific location on Earth. It would basically provide sunlight on demand.

The Schoharie Central School District, located in the heart of New York’s Mohawk Valley, recently transformed a former hayfield into a one-acre solar installation. The system is rated at 749 kilowatts of power. The project was funded by $2.4 million in voter-approved capital as well as state aid.

The part of the year between the chill of winter and the heat of mid-summer tends to be when renewable energy systems perform best. Longer, milder days when electricity demand is relatively low are when wind and solar power are ramping up and can account for greater shares of grid energy consumption.

There is organized opposition to renewable energy. Most of it comes from the fossil fuel industry whose market share and business models are threatened by renewables. There is also opposition from conservative political groups, although that opposition doesn’t really have an ideological basis. And then there is NIMBYism: opposition to renewable energy because people don’t want any of it near where they live.

Solar power has been eating away at coal’s dominance in generating electricity for quite a while. While coal power is still the largest single source of electricity across the globe, most new generation capacity is coming from solar and wind. However, coal power is fighting back, and not in a good way.

Renewable energy sources – in particular solar and wind – are growing by leaps and bounds around the world, in great part because the price for them has been plummeting over the years. This has made renewables the lowest-cost source of electricity in many places.