solar

solar energy harnesses the power of the sun.

how it works

solar panels are made from silicon or another semiconductor installed in a metal panel frame with glass casing.

when a panel is exposed to photons, electrons in the silicon are excited and released, causing them to move freely.

this produces an electric charge, specifically a PV (photovoltaic) charge.

this current (DC) is captured by the wiring in solar panels which is then converted to AC (the form of electricity that powers most household appliances) by an inverter.

bottlenecks


interconnection delays + costs. interconnection costs have risen whether projects get completed or not. completed projects saw interconnection costs making up 6-8% of total costs. withdrawn projects saw costs that made up of 30-37% of the total.


grid infra limitations. rapid growth in development has outpaced grid expansion, which causes congestion. our grid was designed for centralized, fossil-fuel-based generation with steady loads. it struggles to accommodate distributed solar, especially rooftop installations.


variability + storage need. solar is only generated when the sun shines. thus, it often requires storage to be deployed in tandem.


permitting, siting, & regulatory constraints. large-scale solar projects require a lot of land in areas away from urban centers which may require new transmission lines and may face local opposition or NIMBYism.

companies building in solar

NextEra Energy is one of the largest renewables companies in the US and the largest solar developer by installed capacity.

Invenergy is a major player in renewables broadly, including solar capacity.

Sunrun is a company known for solar leasing and financing programs for residential solar installations

Tesla offers solar panels

Sunpower installs high-efficiency solar panels

Read more at this is going to be electric.

map of all the sites in the US where solar projects funded by the Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) to improve the affordability, reliability, and domestic benefit of solar technologies on the grid. source: DOE