Developments and News in clean energy: Wind, solar and batteries grow despite economic challenges

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All the oil in the world
 
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Halcyon66 said:
Suniva to Build 4.5 GW Solar Cell Plant in South Carolina

oilprice.com

Suniva to Build 4.5 GW Solar Cell Plant in South Carolina | OilPrice.com

Suniva is expanding U.S. solar cell manufacturing with a new South Carolina facility set to open in 2027.
oilprice.com oilprice.com

Regards,
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So many failed American solar cell manufacturers. Suniva itself went bankrupt in 2017, taken over by a private equity. Hilariously, investors were dumb enough to buy into the IPO of an unrelated, similarly named Sunnova IPO in 2019…which went bankrupt last year. Basically, solar cells are low profit margin, undifferentiated commodity products. It doesn’t really matter who makes them or where they’re made.

www.energysage.com

Sunnova Went Bankrupt—What Does It Mean For Other Major Solar Players?

Sunnova Energy, a leading U.S. solar installer and lease provider, said it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Sunday, just a week after one of its subsidiaries took the same action.
www.energysage.com www.energysage.com
 
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TinWing said:
I’m

Never in a positive way. California shuts off the electricity to millions of residential customers every time the wind blows and the typical Californian now suffers without air conditioning during peak hours because of “smart meter” billing. I can’t think of a state with a worse track record in managing energy, green otherwise.
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The California power company bears those responsibilities, not just the government. been
 
sparky42 said:
It's Ireland, every Capital program is always 15+++ years from coming online, just keep shifting the timeline.
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Those are called Rainbow Projects, because they seem to recede as you try to approach them, so you never reach that fabled pot of gold at the end - very apt for Ireland, but it's really a global phenomenon...
 
TinWing said:
So many failed American solar cell manufacturers. Suniva itself went bankrupt in 2017, taken over by a private equity. Hilariously, investors were dumb enough to buy into the IPO of an unrelated, similarly named Sunnova IPO in 2019…which went bankrupt last year. Basically, solar cells are low profit margin, undifferentiated commodity products. It doesn’t really matter who makes them or where they’re made.

www.energysage.com

Sunnova Went Bankrupt—What Does It Mean For Other Major Solar Players?

Sunnova Energy, a leading U.S. solar installer and lease provider, said it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Sunday, just a week after one of its subsidiaries took the same action.
www.energysage.com www.energysage.com
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What makes them an attractive "investment" for the principles opening these companies is heavy government subsidies. What they do is set up a manufacturing site using mostly government funding. They give themselves big salaries and produce some solar panels which aren't that hard to manufacture. Sure, the company is losing money except for the subsidies propping it up.

After a few years of operation and the owners making their millions off of it, they go bankrupt and walk away with the taxpayer holding the bag. It has literally become a questionable and just legal scam.

Solar power simply is not cost effective as a commercial generation system in a larger power system of some country.
 
Government subsidizes roads and other things. Good. I don't hate all government like some do.

On solar degradation

Fighting ice

CO2 capture

Carbon simply cannot be matched due to not just energy density but ease of handling.
Here, the handling tech can remain:

At last

Iron, water and UV light all that is needed for hydrogen?

Wind

More

I have seen dropping weights used as alternative energy. I wonder if air resistance can be used in slowing descent for heavy objects:

Spillover
 
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Halcyon66 said:
The Race for Long-Term Energy Storage Is Heating Up

oilprice.com

The Race for Long-Term Energy Storage Is Heating Up | OilPrice.com

A new and exciting technology shows promising results in solving the challenge of long-duration, grid-scale energy storage critical for a fully renewable energy future.
oilprice.com oilprice.com

Regards,
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Storage is unnecessary with conventional electrical generation. That means unless storage costs approach zero they are too much to be paying for what is an unnecessary system addition to use intermittent generation sources like wind and solar.
 
T. A. Gardner said:
Storage is unnecessary with conventional electrical generation. That means unless storage costs approach zero they are too much to be paying for what is an unnecessary system addition to use intermittent generation sources like wind and solar.
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I'm all for the solar & wind electric generation, as well as for the storage systems. Far better to rely on Chinese parts of the renewable system, than to hope that the lunatic does not decide to attack another oil-rich country.
 
T. A. Gardner said:
Storage is unnecessary with conventional electrical generation. That means unless storage costs approach zero they are too much to be paying for what is an unnecessary system addition to use intermittent generation sources like wind and solar.
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Really, you have to pay for oil, gas, coal whatever with "conventional electrical generation", and let's not forget the massive ongoing operational cost.

Once renewables are setup your production and operational cost is miniscule

Also, the best part is storage gets cheaper everyday unlike fossil fuels.

Regards,
 
tomo pauk said:
I'm all for the solar & wind electric generation, as well as for the storage systems. Far better to rely on Chinese parts of the renewable system, than to hope that the lunatic does not decide to attack another oil-rich country.
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I'm not. The systems are unreliable, and ungodly expensive in end cost. They will easily double to triple the cost of electricity in any nation that makes heavy use of them.
 
Halcyon66 said:
Really, you have to pay for oil, gas, coal whatever with "conventional electrical generation", and let's not forget the massive ongoing operational cost.

Once renewables are setup your production and operational cost is miniscule

Also, the best part is storage gets cheaper everyday unlike fossil fuels.

Regards,
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The problem is the cost of setting them up is such that it's cheaper to go with conventional generation like natural gas over the lifetime of the plant. Storage is never going to be cost effective, and that's another huge problem.
 
T. A. Gardner said:
I'm not. The systems are unreliable, and ungodly expensive in end cost. They will easily double to triple the cost of electricity in any nation that makes heavy use of them.
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Sun and wind are free. Today, money is cheap.
Imported gas and other hydrocarbons are expensive, and too much susceptible to the whim of a person in charge in Moscow, Washington DC, or the paragons of democracy and stability that litter the Middle East. Europe, Japan, China, India and many countries are much better off with buying cow, than with buying milk.

T. A. Gardner said:
The problem is the cost of setting them up is such that it's cheaper to go with conventional generation like natural gas over the lifetime of the plant. Storage is never going to be cost effective, and that's another huge problem.
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The further we're away from the imported hydrocarbons, the better.
 
T. A. Gardner said:
The problem is the cost of setting them up is such that it's cheaper to go with conventional generation like natural gas over the lifetime of the plant. Storage is never going to be cost effective, and that's another huge problem.
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about.bnef.com

New Record Lows for Battery Prices | BloombergNEF

Lithium-ion battery prices dropped again in 2025, with average prices coming down 8% to $108 per kilowatt-hour, according to BloombergNEF’s annual price survey.
about.bnef.com about.bnef.com

"The average pack price for stationary storage systems dropped to $70/kWh, 45% lower than in 2024. This is the sharpest drop across all segments and makes stationary storage the lowest-priced segment for the first time."

We have a clear trend of battery storage dropping in price consistently as massive battery production comes online all around the world(especially China). Sodium ion tech will help stationary storage drop even furthur as weight is not a important factor in stationary storage.

Fun fact : Closed loops PSPs also exist for Long term grid storage and they're also experiencing a boom.
 
tomo pauk said:
Sun and wind are free. Today, money is cheap.
Imported gas and other hydrocarbons are expensive, and too much susceptible to the whim of a person in charge in Moscow, Washington DC, or the paragons of democracy and stability that litter the Middle East. Europe, Japan, China, India and many countries are much better off with buying cow, than with buying milk.


The further we're away from the imported hydrocarbons, the better.
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So? Money is money. It is never "cheap."

The problem with solar and wind is they are intermittent generation sources. That means you have to have something available when they aren't producing. That in turn, means duplication of generation sources.

Every nation--EVERY NATION--that has heavily invested in wind and solar has seen the cost of electricity double to triple or more. They have also seen grid stability plummet. It doesn't help if you buy a cow that only gives a day's worth of milk one time a week...
 
lmaoxd said:
about.bnef.com

New Record Lows for Battery Prices | BloombergNEF

Lithium-ion battery prices dropped again in 2025, with average prices coming down 8% to $108 per kilowatt-hour, according to BloombergNEF’s annual price survey.
about.bnef.com about.bnef.com

"The average pack price for stationary storage systems dropped to $70/kWh, 45% lower than in 2024. This is the sharpest drop across all segments and makes stationary storage the lowest-priced segment for the first time."

We have a clear trend of battery storage dropping in price consistently as massive battery production comes online all around the world(especially China). Sodium ion tech will help stationary storage drop even furthur as weight is not a important factor in stationary storage.

Fun fact : Closed loops PSPs also exist for Long term grid storage and they're also experiencing a boom.
Click to expand...
Doesn't matter. It's still too expensive.
 
T. A. Gardner said:
So? Money is money. It is never "cheap."

The problem with solar and wind is they are intermittent generation sources. That means you have to have something available when they aren't producing. That in turn, means duplication of generation sources.

Every nation--EVERY NATION--that has heavily invested in wind and solar has seen the cost of electricity double to triple or more. They have also seen grid stability plummet. It doesn't help if you buy a cow that only gives a day's worth of milk one time a week...
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We can do this all day long.

The bottom line for a government of any European country ( bar Norway and Russia), as well as the EU, Japan, China, India and other countries that have no easy access to the hydrocarbons, is to step-up the generation of energy by solar and wind, as well as to increase the storage capacity. The more success they have in these regards, the better the people are off, and the less the damage is done by the people that think that they can leverage their oilfields in order to enforce their will abroad.

It is okay if you disagree.
 
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