A small company is developing a concentrated solar power system in which a fossil-fueled backup shares most of the generating equipment, such as the turbine, with the solar thermal side. The approach uses heliostat mirrors to focus sunlight onto a tower that heats a working fluid, which can drive a steam turbine directly or be stored for overnight power generation. The design aims to avoid building a completely separate backup facility for times when sunlight is insufficient.
arstechnica.com
· 2026-10-29
Energy analyst Kingsmill Jones says a sharp drop in solar panel prices in 2023-24 has made solar power unusually cheap, with panels now costing well under $100 and capable of generating electricity for 30 to 40 years with minimal maintenance. He describes the resulting cost level as 'offensively cheap,' pointing to solar's rapid expansion relative to nuclear power.
bbc.com
· 2026-10-26
A new report from the Environmental Defense Fund and Atlas Public Policy finds that planned fossil fuel power capacity jumped from 5% of new US electricity projects in 2024 to 30% by mid-2026, even as electricity demand rises due to data centers, factories and EVs. The report notes solar and wind still generate more power than coal and that solar was the fastest-growing source added in 2024, but warns gas development could reach 68 gigawatts by 2030 if current trends hold.
theverge.com
· 2026-10-19
The World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2026, led by Mycle Schneider, finds wind surpassed nuclear in monthly global electricity generation in March 2025, with solar following in April 2025 for the first time. From March 2025 through June 2026, solar or wind individually outproduced nuclear every month, with both doing so simultaneously in several 2026 months. Global solar capacity grew 27% in 2025 to 2,383 GW and wind grew 14% to 1,291 GW, while operating nuclear capacity actually fell slightly to 368.6 GW.
pv-magazine.com
· 2026-10-17
A new Wood Mackenzie report finds that four-hour battery storage systems cost less than open-cycle natural gas turbines in all 43 markets surveyed across every continent. The firm projects battery costs will keep falling while gas turbine electricity costs rise, partly due to AI data center developers buying up available turbines and driving procurement waits to two-to-four years, with closed-cycle models backlogged into the early 2030s. Separately, solar was found to be the cheapest new power source in every surveyed market, though tariffs and import restrictions are pressuring prices in North America.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-10-09
In Mykolaiv, Ukraine, Danish government-funded off-grid solar arrays and batteries now power an underground water pump in an eastern suburb, supplying residents with drinking water even after Russian strikes knocked out centralized power plants nationwide. The city has also installed five solar-powered desalination systems that convert saline or polluted water into drinking water when sunlight is available, switching to grid power at night or on cloudy days.
energytransition.org
· 2026-10-04
The US Energy Information Administration reported that solar power generated 47,147 gigawatt-hours in May, surpassing coal's 45,119 gigawatt-hours and outproducing wind as well. It marks the first month solar has exceeded both coal and wind in national electricity generation.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-09-29
Florida startup Star Catcher is launching a prototype system on a SpaceX rocket to beam concentrated solar energy via laser to a separate orbiting satellite. CEO Andrew Rush says the system, called power nodes, gathers and refines sunlight into concentrated wavelengths that can then be directed as a laser beam toward satellites needing power.
wired.com
· 2026-09-28
Seven-month data on the US grid through July 2026 shows electricity use rising about 2 percent year over year, down from 3 percent growth over the same period last year, despite rising data-center and EV/heat-pump demand. Solar power generation, which had been growing more than 30 percent annually in many quarters, is showing a smaller increase so far this year.
arstechnica.com
· 2026-09-25
Google plans to launch an experimental satellite called MVP on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base next week, part of its Project Suncatcher initiative. The satellite carries four Tensor Processing Units powered by solar panels generating one kilowatt, roughly matching a single Earth-based server, and is designed to process simple AI requests for up to a year while orbiting for as long as six years before burning up on re-entry.
tomshardware.com
· 2026-09-25
BLAVOR has released a 20000mAh Solar Power Bank aimed at fall camping and tailgating season. The device integrates four cables directly into its housing (two USB-C, one Lightning, one USB-A) alongside three extra ports, letting users charge up to six devices without packing separate cables, plus a solar panel and a top-mounted Qi wireless pad for iPhone and Apple Watch.
9to5mac.com
· 2026-09-21
Solar panel prices have plunged from roughly $5-6 per watt 26 years ago to about 12 cents per watt today, according to Ember co-founder Dave Jones cited in a Financial Times report. The report attributes this steep decline almost entirely to a massive expansion in Chinese solar manufacturing, which has made panels affordable for both wealthy and developing nations.
futurism.com
· 2026-09-20
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