My friend, Kirk Tanner, sent a ChatGPT summary of an ebullient New Yorker article on solar:<\/p>\n
Renewable energy, once considered a fringe \u201calternative,\u201d is now rapidly becoming the dominant force in global power generation. Solar energy in particular is growing at a historic pace\u2014faster than any energy source in history. It took from 1954 until 2022 for the world to install its first terawatt of solar, but the second came just two years later, and the third is expected by early 2025. Today, the world installs a gigawatt of solar\u2014roughly the output of a coal plant\u2014every 15 hours. In 2023, 93% of all new electric generating capacity in the U.S. came from solar, wind, and batteries. In March 2024, for the first time ever, fossil fuels generated less than half the electricity in the U.S.<\/p>\n
California has been a leader in this transition: on May 25, 2024, renewables generated 158% of the state\u2019s demand at peak, and 82% over the full day. Batteries are playing a key role, growing 76% in one year and increasingly powering the grid at night. Texas, often seen as oil country, is now outpacing California in renewable and battery installations. In one week in March, it set records for solar, wind, and battery output, and thanks to 10,000 new megawatts of capacity, it reduced blackout risk from 16% to under 1%. Meanwhile, fossil fuel use continues to decline\u2014California is using 40% less natural gas than it did a year ago.<\/p>\n
At the heart of the global surge is China, which installs more than half the world\u2019s renewables and produces most of the solar panels and batteries. In 2024, nearly half of new cars sold in China were electric or hybrid, and solar and wind displaced enough coal to reduce national emissions. This influence is felt globally: in South America, 15 planned coal plants have been scrapped. In India, solar kept coal use flat and cut natural gas usage by 25% in early 2024. In Africa and South Asia, solar adoption is booming in rural areas where people are bypassing traditional infrastructure, similar to how mobile phones leapfrogged landlines. Farmers in Pakistan, for example, have switched en masse to solar irrigation, dramatically cutting diesel demand.<\/p>\n
The U.S. is catching up technologically but faces internal political headwinds. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) provided unprecedented incentives for clean energy, but recent Republican efforts, including Donald Trump\u2019s proposed \u201cBig Beautiful Bill,\u201d threaten to gut these incentives. Analysts warn this could eliminate up to 72% of future clean electricity projects. Despite this, bipartisan support for renewables remains strong\u201487% of Americans and 80% of Trump voters favor clean-energy tax credits. The transition is no longer about technology or economics\u2014it\u2019s about political will and clearing bureaucratic bottlenecks. Thousands of approved renewable projects remain stalled in interconnection queues across the country.<\/p>\n
This moment mirrors past revolutions like the rise of oil, the computer age, or the industrial revolution\u2014but this time it\u2019s decentralized and democratized. Solar and wind are widely available and nearly impossible to monopolize or weaponize. Solar panels are now so efficient and cheap that, by 2032, solar is expected to surpass coal as the world\u2019s top energy source. With continued innovation, especially in battery storage and recycling, the long-term path points toward energy abundance. The sun, after all, beams down tens of thousands of times more energy than the world needs. Whether the U.S. leads or lags in this revolution may ultimately determine its role in the global economy of the next century.<\/p>\n
All that got me, Harry Newton, juiced up. So I asked Perplexity:<\/p>\n
And it answered:<\/p>\n
With demand for clean energy at an all-time high, solar power companies are attracting exceptional investor interest. Several solar stocks stand out for their growth potential, innovation, and financial performance.<\/p>\n