Solar Power

Solar panel shipments in the U.S. grew 10% in 2022 to a record 31.7 million peak kilowatts, data released by the Energy Information Administration shows. The volume of shipments has grown by more than sixfold in the past decade, as the price of photovoltaic cells have fallen, while incentives and subsidies for installing solar panels have increased. Last year, the U.S. produced more than 3% of its electricity through solar energy, a fraction of what it produced from carbon sources such as gas but up more than fourfold compared to 2015 levels.

As a deadly, record-breaking heatwave puts Texas’ grid to the test, renewable power sources are helping the state maintain energy reliability, contrary to some of the state’s lawmakers claims that clean energy is less reliable.

Texas has for more than two weeks been blanketed by an oppressive heat dome, and federal forecasters say there is “no end in sight”. The sweltering temperatures have forced people to stay in their homes with their air conditioners cranked, causing energy demand to soar to record levels.

For many Texas Republicans these days, renewable power is about as welcome as a porcupine at a nudist colony.

Senators passed a measure Wednesday to invalidate the emergency declaration President Joe Biden declared last summer to temporarily protect Asian solar energy imports from anti-dumping and countervailing duties.

The 56-41 bipartisan vote gives full approval to the resolution after House lawmakers passed it on Friday and tees up the latest Biden veto of a measure seeking to nullify one of his administration's environment-related rulemakings or administrative actions.

The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday voted to repeal President Joe Biden’s suspension of tariffs on solar panels from Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, nations that collectively represent a majority of country’s supply of panels.

The decision comes after the White House last year waived tariffs on solar panel imports from the Southeast Asian nations for two years and invoked the Defense Production Act to bolster domestic solar panel manufacturing.

The transition to clean power will require massive solar expansion—not just home rooftop arrays but photovoltaic installations near population centers. Where to mount all the panels? One answer seems obvious: over parking lots, which also bake during the summer, contributing to dangerous “heat island” effects. Shading Walmart Supercenter lots with PV canopies, for instance, would generate loads of power and allow stores to entice shoppers with free EV charging and cooler lots. And a cool customer is a happy customer.

Number of US Walmart Supercenters: 3,572

Solar accounted for 50% of all new electricity-generating capacity added in the US in 2022, according to a new report by the Solar Energy Industries Association. Federal policies like the Solar Investment Tax Credit lowered costs for solar panel installations, and increased demand across the private and public sectors. The result is that there are now more than 140 gigawatts of solar capacity installed in the US, enough to power 25 million homes.

Clean energy is rapidly rising on the Texas power grid, but regulators in the Lone Star State are now considering a plan that could give fossil fuels a boost.

It’s not just cars that will be going through energy transition in the years ahead. The parking lots where EVs recharge are a growing focus of construction efforts linked to climate change and carbon reduction.

A law approved in France last month requires that parking lots with 80 or more spaces be covered by solar panels within the next five years. For the biggest parking lots, those with more than 400 spaces, three years has been granted to have at least half of the parking lot’s surface area covered by solar.