I bet they add a trivial weight to the solar panel

This is my favourite graphic.

It's incredible how far DAYTIME solar has already come with almost no batteries.

Just think how this will change with batteries, when instead of daytime solar, we get DISPATCHABLE solar.

The solar boom is only just starting...

I think I’m conflating values.

There’s the actual amount of kWhs generated solar increased by in 2025. And then there’s the amount that new capacity installed in 2025 will generate in 2026.

I think the IEA is talking the former, and I was thinking the latter.

Solar's exponential rise continued in 2025.

Solar grew by 636 TWh, a 30% increase and the highest percentage growth in eight years despite a much higher base.

Solar overtook wind and drew close to nuclear power.

Ten years ago, solar was only a tenth of nuclear generation.

Never knew that. So stock up on that as well?

In 2025, renewables overtook coal in global electricity generation for the first time in over 100 years.

Renewables: 33.8%
Coal: 33.0%

Coal fell below a third of global electricity generation for the first time in history.

Negative power prices reach all-time high on the Iberian Peninsula in Q1 Spain and Portugal recorded a surge in negative electricity prices in Q1, driven by strong solar generation and relatively low demand on the Iberian Peninsula. Further records are likely in 2026 as so...

'Spain 397 hours negative prices Q!'2026...vs 48 hours same period 2025...2025 annual total 555 hours...Portugal 222 hours sub-zero prices same period....rest of Europe, no country exceeded 53 hours during quarter...Across Europe, total renewable generation 384.9 TWh in Q1...solar 52.6 TWh, up 15%'

Yeah, 2028...still a year and a half plus away...

A closer look at CATL's new sodium-ion battery - Energy Storage The battery manufacturing heavyweight presented its latest sodium-ion products at ESIE 2026 earlier this month, expanding its push into grid-scale storage, AI data centers, and long-life applications.

Salt. In my history books, it was worth its weight in gold...

'300+ Ah large-format product with energy density of about 160 Wh/kg, system energy conversion efficiency of 97%, cycle life of more than 15,000 cycles at 80% capacity retention, and an operating temperature range of -40 C to 70 C.'

Expect the modules to be expensive inititially, enough that Tandem makes $ but developers pencil...and developers know how to pencil. These could end up being $1/W initially.

'don’t need silver; electricity flows freely across surface...line making 10-20 panels/day during learning phase.'

Are long-promised solar perovskites finally hitting mass production? Tandem PV has built an automated factory line in California to produce glass coated with materials that it says can improve solar panel efficiency by…

“We don’t really share our formula, but they’re basically off-the-shelf stuff"

'company expects to produce full-size perovskite panels starting in 2028 at a planned larger factory whose location has not been finalized...currently making one-quarter the size of large utility-scale solar panels'

Rachel Reeves to raise windfall tax on low-carbon electricity generators Chancellor aims to curb households’ rising bills as she consults on reforms to weaken link between gas and electricity prices

'current 45% windfall tax on electricity sold above $75/MWh from 2022 on excess profits...government to increase tax on low-carbon electricity generators to limit UK household energy bills...overall price is set by the most expensive source of power, which is usually gas power plants'

Strategic if smartly done

me too

Inside the financing of Egypt’s largest solar‑plus‑storage project Norwegian developer Scatec ASA has commissioned the first phase of the 1.1 GW Obelisk solar and battery energy storage system (BESS) project in Egypt, backed by $479.1 million in development finance i...

'$590 million Obelisk project...80% non-recourse debt...Norway's Climate Investment Fund, 25% of holding company, Scatec 75%...EDF 20% operating company...Scatec with 60% total economic interest and operational control, Norfund with 20%, and EDF Power Solutions with 20%'

‘flagship plant 4.3 GW capacity potential…3.8 GW geothermal on US grid currently…658 MW binding PPAs, $7.2 billion revenue…2.6 GW in advanced development, 38 GW early stage…flagship cost $7,000/kW, goal $3,000…$1.2B spend 2026, $940 toward 400 MW plant, next $1B project level finance…pre-revenue’

Solar keeps slimming down while power rises An international study found that the specific power of commercial silicon solar modules increased from 8.5 W/kg in the early 2000s to 23.6 W/kg today, driven by advances in module design, bifaciality...

'specific power of commercial silicon solar modules increased from around 8.5 W/kg In the early 2000s to 23.6 W/kg today...glass 54% and 86% of module weight, encapsulants 2%–15%, aluminum frames 6%–19%, cells, junction boxes, backsheets, and interconnections, collectively contribute 8%–16%'

What a beautiful image! Solar was the number one new ENERGY and Electricity source on earth.

pv-magazine-usa.com/2026/04/20/s...

Perovskite in general, will match (or lower when it comes to $/Watt) the price of standard modules once it gets going - which I think means this product has to match the price of standard modules.

Eventually at least.

197 GW of solar alone in the last five years

Funny little line at the end:

“The United States has never added 182 GW of dispatchable capacity over a five-year period,” SSR writes.

But we have deployed that much solar prior, and we will deploy that much battery capacity over the next five years.

Rick Perry’s Fermi Is Undermining the AI Energy Thesis The Fermi Paradox asks why, given the vastness of the universe, there is no hard evidence of aliens. The Fermi Inc. paradox asks why, given seemingly insatiable demand from hyperscalers for electricit...

'Ballooning forecasts for datacenter power demand, as well as a tiny free float, juiced Fermi’s valuation to a peak of more than $19 billion.

That now hovers around $3 billion.'

Our judges have failed us. They've been captured.

No idea who Cesar is, but he has some modules:

International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) Duty Refunds Securing America's Borders

U.S. illegal tariff refund website is up.

The real issue is that we end buyers, have NO IDEA what of our items bore tariff price increases. Whoever did the import knows, and passed the price on.

Do you think these parties will distribute their tariff refunds? I'll update when I get my checks.

yep!

The reason we invested in Tandem PV so many years ago was that it was obvious that putting the perovskite on the glass layer was 1) far better/easier/cheaper than layering it directly on silicon & 2) perovskite on glass makes every other silicon module manufacturer your customer.

More tomorrow.
🔌💡

'Tandem PV is producing tandem perovskite-silicon solar panels....40 MW/annual capacity...29.7% efficiency based on internal testing...accelerated lifetime testing, the company says the latest-generation panels show less than 1% average annual power loss'

Funny though, but the owners have to be local somewhere right?

For the last few months, my most common spam is the private office offering $2-35 million to buy/invest in my company.