The History of Solar Energy, Going Back to 4,000 B.C.

Published

6 years ago

January 19, 2017

Jeff Desjardins

Harvesting the power of the sun has been a human endeavor since the beginning of civilization.

After all, the sun puts out 3.8 x 10^26 watts of power, and NASA scientists estimate that even capturing 0.0001% of what hits the earth would be enough to service all of our current energy needs.

Today, we’re obviously not there – but we’re making substantial progress. Solar cells are cheaper than ever before, and solar is finally getting queued up as a part of the future energy supply mix.

The History of Solar Energy

Today’s infographic comes from SolarTech, and it details the history of solar energy from all the way back to 4,000 B.C.

While solar only makes up a tiny portion of the overall energy mix today, there’s no doubt that future skylines will be dotted with many more photovoltaic panels.

The EIA pegs solar’s growth at a CAGR of 39% between 2013-2017 in the United States.

Related Topics:solar history energy green power renewable energy

Up Next

The Top 10 Reasons Investors Should Look at Cobalt

Don't Miss

How Google Tracks You – And What You Can Do About It

Click for Comments

Mapped: Renewable Energy and Battery Installations in the U.S. in 2023

This graphic describes new U.S. renewable energy installations by state along with nameplate capacity, planned to come online in 2023.

Published

5 days ago

May 30, 2023

Alan Kennedy

Renewable and Battery Installations in the U.S. in 2023

This was originally posted on Elements. Sign up to the free mailing list to get beautiful visualizations on real assets and resource megatrends each week.

Renewable energy, in particular solar power, is set to shine in 2023. This year, the U.S. plans to get over 80% of its new energy installations from sources like battery, solar, and wind.

The above map uses data from EIA to highlight planned U.S. renewable energy and battery storage installations by state for 2023.

Total U.S. renewable energy and battery installations, broken down by share

Texas and California Leading in Renewable Energy

Nearly every state in the U.S. has plans to produce new clean energy in 2023, but it’s not a surprise to see the two most populous states in the lead of the pack.

Even though the majority of its power comes from natural gas, Texas currently leads the U.S. in planned renewable energy installations. The state also has plans to power nearly 900,000 homes using new wind energy.

California is second, which could be partially attributable to the passing of Title 24, an energy code that makes it compulsory for new buildings to have the equipment necessary to allow the easy installation of solar panels, battery storage, and EV charging.

New solar power in the U.S. isn’t just coming from places like Texas and California. In 2023, Ohio will add 1,917 MW of new nameplate solar capacity, with Nevada and Colorado not far behind.

Top 10 States	Battery (MW)	Solar (MW)	Wind (MW)	Total (MW)
Texas	1,981	6,462	1,941	10,385
California	4,555	4,293	123	8,970
Nevada	678	1,596	0	2,274
Ohio	12	1,917	5	1,934
Colorado	230	1,187	200	1,617
New York	58	509	559	1,125
Wisconsin	4	939	92	1,034
Florida	3	978	0	980
Kansas	0	0	843	843
Illinois	0	363	477	840

The state of New York is also looking to become one of the nation’s leading renewable energy providers. The New York State Energy Research & Development Authority (NYSERDA) is making real strides towards this objective with 11% of the nation’s new wind power projects expected to come online in 2023.

According to the data, New Hampshire is the only state in the U.S. that has no new utility-scale renewable energy installations planned for 2023. However, the state does have plans for a massive hydroelectric plant that should come online in 2024.

Decarbonizing Energy

Renewable energy is considered essential to reduce global warming and CO2 emissions.

In line with the efforts by each state to build new renewable installations, the Biden administration has set a goal of achieving a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035 and a net zero emissions economy by no later than 2050.

The EIA forecasts the share of U.S. electricity generation from renewable sources rising from 22% in 2022 to 23% in 2023 and to 26% in 2024.