Even as the U.S. guts support for renewable power, the world is still pushing ahead on the shift to solar energy, with installations up 64 percent in the first half of this year.

https://e360.yale.edu/digest/global-solar-installations-2025

by The_Weekend_Baker

4 comments

  1. This is equivalent in kwh generated to 70-90 nuclear power stations in only 6 months.

  2. As someone who is very pro-solar, I’m wary of progress reports for two reasons and I wonder what other people think about them:

    1. Installed capacity is great, but what is the actual generation? Many plants have their output curtailed for various reasons. (Edit: according to my very rough napkin math, it seems like the US is generating at ~90%+ of installed capacity, while the world is closer to ~65%+. This is based on an assumption of 5 peak sun hours per day, and using the capacty/generation numbers from the link [here](https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/solar-pv-energy-consumption-vs-solar-pv-capacity). Any comments?).
    2. Increasing renewables is great, but what we really need is a *decrease* in fossil fuels. This article mentions that,

    >For the first time in China, solar isn’t just supplementing coal power, but replacing it.

    Yet it doesn’t give specifics. And from everything I’ve heard, CO2 emissions are higher this year than ever before.

    I’m not trying to be negative but a hundred terrawatts of solar capacity won’t help us if we don’t, 1. Use it, and 2. Stop using fossils. Am I right?

  3. The way I look at it, we are all in one big petri dish, and if someone on the other side of the world installs cheap solar and then stops burning something else, its a win for all, regardless of what country it went into. Into a free and democratic country, awesome. If it goes into North Korea and they quit burning cow dung, that’s OK too.

    At times like these, thank Jeebus that there are other countries out there where economics and climate matter, and hopefully, the US get more sane in a year or so and quits this BS going on here now. In the meantime, I’ll continue to benefit from my solars, drive my EV, burn less gas, and do what I can.

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