Solar energy news and discussion

[wjfox]

China's solar exports jump 60% on the year in April

May 18, 2026 11:59 AM

In April, China shipped 60% ​more solar cells abroad than ​in the same month last year - and ⁠the shipments, valued at $3.12 billion - likely ​understate actual growth in energy terms since ​photovoltaic technology advances over time.

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy ... 026-05-18/

[wjfox]

EVNGENCO1 proposes three floating solar power projects in Lam Dong

14/05/2026 22:20

Hanoi (VNA) – The Power Generation Corporation 1 (EVNGENCO1) – a member of the Vietnam Electricity (EVN) - has proposed investing in three floating solar power projects on hydropower reservoirs in Lam Dong province, with a combined capacity of nearly 270 MW and total estimated investment of about 4.4 trillion VND (166 million USD).

The projects are expected to help optimise the use of existing reservoir infrastructure, supplement clean electricity supplies for the national grid, and support the development of green energy in line with the revised Power Development Plan VIII.

At a recent working session with the provincial People’s Committee, EVNGENCO1 reported on its production, business and construction investment activities in Lam Dong, while proposing the development of floating solar projects on existing hydropower reservoirs.

https://en.vietnamplus.vn/evngenco1-pro ... 342789.vnp



Floating solar power plant on the Da Mi hydroelectric reservoir. (Photo: VNA)

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[caltrek]

Solar to Overtake Coal on Texas Grid for the First Time Ever this Year
By Julian Spector
May 18, 2026

Introduction:

(Canary Media)The Texas sun keeps rising, as Texas coal wanes.

For the first time ever, solar is set to generate more electricity than coal in the power market managed by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. Nobody is building new coal power plants in the state, but developers are adding more solar there than anywhere else in the country. As a result of those diverging trajectories, the federal government expects ERCOT will receive 78 billion kilowatt-hours from solar in 2026, and just 60 from coal.

This trend does have seasonal variations. Last year, solar output beat coal on a monthly basis from March through August, and this year it is expected to do so from March through December, per the U.S. Energy Information Administration at the Department of Energy.

Nationally, the combination of wind and solar surpassed coal generation in 2024, as noted in an analysis by Ember, a think tank that conducts research on clean energy. In other words, the solar industry is further along in Texas than it is nationwide.

The Texas solar surge undercuts the prevailing energy narratives coming out of the Trump administration, which has attempted to boost coal and gas as tools of “energy dominance,” while blocking or canceling American energy that comes from renewables. The Department of Energy, for instance, is keeping struggling coal plants on life support at great expense to taxpayers. Meanwhile, the Department of the Interior is blocking wind and solar developments that intersect with public lands.

Read more here: https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/s ... as-first

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[wjfox]

Fortescue starts construction of Australia’s biggest solar farm outside main grid, and giant eight-hour battery

May 25, 2026

Iron ore miner Fortescue says it has started construction of the biggest solar farm to be built outside of Australia’s main grid, as well as a giant battery as it continues its race to build a massive green grid and reach “real zero” emissions by 2030.

The 690 megawatt (MW) Turner River solar farm is its biggest project to date, the biggest in Western Australia, and in terms of capacity will only be beaten by Acen Renewables partially completed 720 MW New England solar farm in NSW.

Fortescue has also announced that construction has started on an eight hour battery – sized at 74 MW and 650 MWh big battery – that will be integrated with the existing 190 MW solar facility at its nearly complete Cloudbreak mine (pictured).

Turner River will be the final piece in the company’s solar plans, taking its total solar capacity to more than 1.4 GW, and adding to the 440 MW Solomon Airport solar farm that is also under construction, the completed 190 MW Cloudbreak facility, and the 110 MW North Star Junction solar farm.

https://reneweconomy.com.au/fortescue-s ... r-battery/



Cloudbreak solar farm. Photo: Fortescue.

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[wjfox]

[caltrek]

A First Among Major Nations, India Is Industrializing With Solar

More on that by
Fred Pearce
May 21, 2026

Introduction:

(Yale Environment 360) A sea of solar panels is rapidly engulfing one of the world’s largest salt deserts. By 2029, nearly 60 million panels will cover 280 square miles of India’s Rann of Kutch, extending right up to the border with Pakistan. The Khavda solar park is set to be the world’s largest and most powerful supplier of electricity from the sun, with a generating capacity of 30 gigawatts — 30 times the size of a typical coal or nuclear power station and enough to power Austria.

With India’s economy now growing faster than China’s, Khavda epitomizes the country’s breakneck rush to electrify with solar power. Installed solar capacity in India has been growing by 40 percent a year. In March, it passed 150 gigawatts, and by 2030 is set to double again.

Analysts say the world’s most populous nation is on the verge of becoming the first major country to power its industrialization predominantly with solar energy.

Cheap solar is “enabling India to develop without the long fossil-fuel detour taken by the West and China,” says Kingsmill Bond, energy strategist and director at Ember, a U.K.-based think tank that tracks the world’s transition to renewable energy. “China built on coal; India is building on sun,” he says. “And what India is doing could also be mirrored in other emerging economies

Read more here: https://e360.yale.edu/features/india-solar

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