Solar tax credits are a carbon tax by another name
The American public has shown a strong willingness to fund solar and other renewable energy projects through tax credits, largely because voters trust directed infrastructure funding more than open-ended government revenue pools.
The ‘onion’ of FEOC, Safe Harbor, and tax credits
pv magazine USA spoke with tax lawyers about the added layers of diligence and complexity that Foreign Entity of Concern rules bring to tax credits (excluding hydrogen), and how to traverse four years of ongoing construction under new Safe Harbor guidance.
Fossil retirements continue, but pace slows and may reverse
EIA data shows that since 2003, U.S. fossil fuel plants have retired more capacity than they’ve been built. That trend is slowing, and early signs suggest it could reverse.
Field tested hurricane survival strategies for solar
RMI has released Solar Under Storm III, analyzing solar power facilities in the hurricane-prone Caribbean and reviewing past storm impacts to identify six major failure modes and ten risk-mitigation specifications.
U.S. may deploy 53 GW of solar in 2025, 61 GW in 2026 – but FEOC looms
BloombergNEF projects continued solar deployment growth in 2025 and 2026, though looming Foreign Entity of Concern restrictions may shave tens of gigawatts off capacity additions later in the decade.
If the mission is emissions, then solar is the answer
Researchers found that a 15 percent boost in solar generation cut U.S. emissions by 12 percent of the EPA’s annual target. Some regions, such as California, were even found to be cleaning up the electricity of their neighbors by exporting excess daytime solar generation.
Tesla Energy has quietly become the company’s most profitable division
After years of negative margins, Tesla’s energy division is now a key driver of profitability. So far in 2025, the division has contributed 23% of Tesla’s total profit while accounting for just 13% of revenue, boosting the company’s overall profitability by nearly 2 percentage points.
Design solar for storage now, or retrofit at a premium later
New analysis of retrofitting solar power plants with energy storage, accounting for the industry’s rapidly falling prices, suggests that prepping your solar projects today has a strong chance of being in your financial interest.
California solar curtailment down 12% on back of batteries
For the first five months of 2025, CAISO data showed solar electricity curtailment declined by 12% as a share of generation, falling from 13% to 11.5%, even as solar output grew 18% year over year. During this period, however, curtailment still rose 4.1% in absolute terms, with March showing a 28% increase, matching the prior year’s peak.
Trump starts “weaponization” of polysilicon investigation
The U.S. Department of Commerce has officially initiated a Section 232 investigation into the national security risks of polysilicon imports.
