“When the solution is simple, God is answering.”
Albert Einstein
Sunny news
Summer isn’t officially here for another week, but you would’t know it in much of the U.S. Where I live, the blazing sun has been a constant reminder of the enormous power of that big ball in the sky. Along those lines, I’ve been bookmarking articles and want to share some sunny news in the solar world. Here are some recent stories highlighting progress harnessing the sun:
A Tennessee company got a major equity investment
Silicon Ranch, a solar developer based in the Tennessee, just raised $500 million in equity to continue to grow their business. The southeast of the U.S. is prime for solar, and this company has plenty of opportunity. The tariffs are creating headwinds for imported solar panels, which is bolstering American manufacturers. Silicon Ranch has been sourcing panels from U.S.-based First Solar, and just doubled down. Smart move.
UK solar power grew by 42% this spring
Sunshine may not be the first thing you think of when it comes to the UK, but this spring was an especially sunny one. The extra sunlight, along with more capacity, helped lead to a 42% growth in solar energy generation compared to the same period last year. As a result, they were able to cut gas imports along with emissions. Pretty impressive.
Pakistan made a giant leap in solar installation last year
Pakistan is one of many countries already being hit hard by climate-related weather disasters, including devastating floods and drought. This could be spurring action, because they are making giant strides to reduce heat-trapping gas. In 2024 Pakistan imported 22 GW of solar panels, which is more than the UK installed in the past 5 years! How did they do it? As Michael Barnard in Clean Technica reports, “the government barely needed to nudge the market. It just removed tariffs, approved net metering, and got out of the way.” Hmmm.
Texas bills targeting solar appear dead
You may have heard, but Texas is leading the U.S. with clean energy. But recently, some lawmakers in Texas have wanted to make it harder to install solar farms, and otherwise put a damper on renewables. In welcome news, the bills have died, hopefully clearing the way for the growth of clean energy to continue like gangbusters. It turns out renewable energy is good for business and for the state economy. Maybe we should all follow their lead.
All new homes in the UK will come with solar
In more positive solar news from the UK, within two year a new law will require all new homes to be built with solar panels. While home costs will be slightly higher, owners are expected to recover the costs within four years, and then reap the benefits for years after that. This move will propel the UK toward their goal of decarbonizing the grid by 2030.
The simple solution
These are all hopeful signs, but we need more stories like this, especially here at home. One theme of this blog is simplicity, and when it comes to energy, there is nothing more simple than taking advantage of natural resources. The sun is right up there practically begging to be put to use. As the cheapest form of energy, solar should be a no-brainer. Simple isn’t necessarily easy, but it also doesn’t need to be this hard.
Let’s do something about climate change. Learn about it. Talk about it. Help solve it.