Solar energy news and discussion

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[firestar464]

gosh so many "i am very smart" types in the comments

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[wjfox]

80% by 2050 seems highly implausible... 0.8% maybe.

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[firestar464]

God it's truly exponential

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[wjfox]

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[wjfox]

Another country that should hopefully add to solar's exponential growth...

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Iraq's first solar plant opens in Karbala desert to tackle electricity crisis

20 September, 2025

Iraq is set to open the country's first industrial-scale solar plant Sunday in a vast expanse of desert in Karbala province, southwest of Baghdad.

It's part of a new push by the government to expand renewable energy production in a country that is frequently beset by electricity crises despite being rich in oil and gas.

"This is the first project of its type in Iraq that has this capacity," said Safaa Hussein, executive director of the new solar plant in Karbala, standing in front of row after row of black panels. From above, the project looks like a black-clad city surrounded by sand.

The plant aims to "supply the national network with electricity, and reduce the fuel consumption especially during the daytime peak load, in addition to reducing the negative environmental impact of gas emissions," he said.

The newly opened solar plant in Karbala will eventually be able to produce up to 300 megawatts of electricity at its peak, said Nasser Karim al-Sudani, head of the national team for solar energy projects in the Prime Minister's Office. Another project under construction in Babil province will have a capacity of 225 megawatts, and work will also begin soon on a 1,000 megawatt project in the southern province of Basra, he said.

https://www.newarab.com/news/iraqs-firs ... ala-desert

[wjfox]

Mexico launches tender for 300 MW solar plant

September 25, 2025

The CFE has launched a tender for the construction of Puerto Peñasco Sequence III Photovoltaic Power Plant, in the state of Sonora, Mexico. The project will add up to 300 MW of alternating current PV generation, plus 103 MW (three hours) of backup battery storage systems.

This project is part of the 2025-30 National Electric System Expansion Plan as a continuation of the existing phases of Puerto Peñasco. In its final phase, the plant will reach a total capacity of 1,000 MW of alternating current and will have storage systems of up to 271 MW.

[...]

Phase III joins the already operational phases of the Puerto Peñasco complex: Sequence I and II, which total 420 MW of photovoltaic power plus 72 MW of storage.

In terms of investment, Sequence III will require approximately $270 million and is estimated to be operational by December 2027.

https://www.pv-magazine.com/2025/09/25/ ... lar-plant/



Image: Alexander Schimmeck, Unsplash

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[caltrek]

Is the Sun Setting on Pennsylvania’s Solar Future?
By Audrey Carleton
September 29, 2025

Introduction:

(Capital & Main) It was a Thursday when Pennsylvania energy regulators received a pair of letters. The first let them know that $156 million in solar grant money they’d received in 2024 had been revoked; the second ordered them to stop any work related to that money.

The Aug. 7 correspondence was sent to the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority, an independent financing authority for clean energy projects in the Keystone State. The agency was far from alone.

The Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority was one of 60 recipients, including state agencies, nonprofits and Native American tribes, to receive termination letters from the Environmental Protection Agency alerting them that funds they’d received under Solar for All, a Joe Biden-era initiative to help low-income households access solar energy, would be rescinded. The recipients’ accounts containing the funds won in 2024 were frozen and the money removed, environmental advocates say. Most large fossil fuel-producing states, including California, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas, had their funds pulled.

The same day that Pennsylvania received the news about its funding, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the cuts on X. “What a grift,” he said of the $7 billion program established under the Inflation Reduction Act, President Joe Biden’s signature legislation.

But advocates and many Democrats say that Zeldin and the EPA are acting illegally. The Solar for All program, and the $27 billion funding bucket that underlies it, called the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, was “Trump-proofed” before President Joe Biden left office, a move designed to ensure that an incoming Republican administration couldn’t legally claw back that money. The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund was established with the requirement that the money be “obligated” by Sept. 30, 2024 — before the end of Biden’s term — after which point it could not be revoked.

Read more here: https://capitalandmain.com/is-the-sun- ... -future

[wjfox]

Chad’s first utility-scale solar plus storage plant now online

Oct 01, 2025

Chad’s first utility-scale solar installation has commenced operations.

Abu Dhabi-based developer Global South Utilities (GSU) inaugurated the 50 MW / 5 MWh Noor Chad solar plant in N’Djamena, the country’s capital, earlier this week

The site features more than 81,000 solar panels and 158 inverters, plus a 5 MWh battery energy storage system. It is expected to provide electricity to 274,000 homes.

GSU will be responsible for operating the plant. It is the first project the company has completed from signature to commissioning in Africa.

“It proves how quickly these markets can move when there is determination and effective partnerships that turn challenges into opportunities,” commented GSU CEO and Managing Director Ali Alshimmari.

https://www.ess-news.com/2025/10/01/cha ... ow-online/



Image: Global South Utilites, Emirates News Agency

[wjfox]

[funkervogt]

Twenty years ago, Ray Kurzweil predicted we'd be getting all our energy from solar power by now.
https://www.militantfuturist.com/all-of ... lar-power/