Solar Noon

An llustraton shows the ominous shadow of President Trump cast across a solar array

Photo of the JH Campbell coal-fired power plant in West Olive, Michigan, under cloudy skies

The Trump Energy Crisis: https://solarnoon.net/2026/02/07/the-trump-energy-crisis.html

In case someone else says this dumb thing to you: Trump says the big US winter storm is proof of climate hoax – here’s why he’s wrong

"scientists point out that a single winter storm… tells us very little about longer-term, global climate trends. …The world [is] undeniably heating up"

Case in point on my agrivoltaics post the other day: Solar grazing: ‘triple-win’ for sheep farmers, renewables

"a growing number of farmers are discovering the free grazing opportunities offered by some solar panel sites are a toe-hold in an industry where land is often unaffordable/unobtainable"

Photo of dual-use agricultural land, green leafy plants and solar panels stretching away to the horizon under a clear blue sky

A family of five, including three small children, stands in the shade of a solar panel next to rows of garden plants on a dual-use agrivoltaic farm

Agrivoltaics - Win-Win-Win, So Many Wins: https://solarnoon.net/2026/01/14/agrivoltaics-winwinwin-so-many-wins.html

Good news (again/for now): Judge reverses Trump order halting Revolution Wind

"Judge Lamberth said the government had failed to explain why the new information warranted a halt to construction, calling it an “unreasonable and seemingly unjustified” change in position."

There are a bunch of these dumb & purely political orders, all over the country, as the Trump admin desperately tries to prop up fossil fuels. This coal plant in Colorado isn’t even running (it broke down 2 weeks before the order). Gov. Polis is right: it’s ludicrous

It's true, @billmckibben.bsky.social gets the blame, errrm no oops, I mean the *credit* for this 😊 I hope to make solarnoon.net a source of inspiration & education. We've got to get this transition GOING

hi, there! after reading Bill McKibben’s Here Comes the Sun last year, I’ve become a clean-energy zealot. I’ve been learning a lot about it; it’s an area with fantastic potential & massive innovation… there’s so much good news (& bad; thanks Tr*mp) that I’ve started a new blog: Solar Noon

air pollution over dense urban area

An 1880 cartoon depicting "Old King Coal" and a deadly demon of air pollution inflicting disease on the city below

Lifesaving Solar: https://solarnoon.net/2026/01/02/lifesaving-solar.html

offshore wind turbines and construction platform in the Revolution Wind project

We Need Wind Power, Especially in Winter: https://solarnoon.net/2025/12/31/we-need-wind-power-especially.html

Science’s 2025 Breakthrough of the Year: The unstoppable rise of renewable energy Clean energy infrastructure is being deployed with unmatched scale and speed—and China is leading the way

Great story & pictures from @science.org naming the surge in renewables their Breakthrough of the Year www.science.org/content/arti...

"China’s solar power generation grew more than 20-fold over the past decade, & its solar & wind farms now have enough capacity to power the entire United States."

Qianjiadong Reservoir in southern Hunan, China, produces a double harvest: solar energy and yellow carp. The solar farm produces up to 80 megawatts of power while the fish forage beneath the panels. With a massive scale-up of solar and wind at home and cheap exports of the technology, China is driving a worldwide surge of renewable energy—Science’s 2025 Breakthrough of the Year.

Science has named the seemingly unstoppable growth of renewable energy worldwide as the 2025 Breakthrough of the Year.

Learn more about this year's #BOTY and other big advances in science: https://scim.ag/493Tpgx

Chart: Hungary is leading the world in solar adoption The small European country unseated a longtime champion in a ranking of nations by how much of their electricity comes from solar.

Which country got the largest share of its electricity from solar in 2024? A balmy island nation, a country with swaths of blistering desert, or at least somewhere notoriously hot and sunny? Nope - per @canarymedia.com, the global leader was Hungary www.canarymedia.com/articles/sol... 🌞

This is what’s known in the business as, “bullshit”: Trump officials halt offshore wind-farm projects over ‘national security risks’. It’s a disgusting & arbitrary overreach that will only drive up energy prices (and deadly emissions, of course)

U.S. seizes ‘very large’ oil tanker off Venezuelan coast, Trump says The seizure was a significant escalation in the U.S. pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his country’s oil-dependent economy.

Just noting that no one is ever going to seize a tanker full of solar energy
www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/1...

Cover of the Nov. 2025 issue of National Geographic magazine

The Power of Scalable Battery Power: https://solarnoon.net/2025/12/10/the-power-of-scalable-battery.html

US judge strikes down Trump order blocking wind energy projects Federal judge declared January executive order unlawful, ruling in favor of a coalition of state attorneys general

Good news: US judge strikes down Trump order blocking wind energy projects

"A federal judge on Monday struck down Donald Trump’s order blocking wind energy projects, saying the effort to halt leasing of windfarms on federal lands and waters was “arbitrary and capricious” and violated US law"

Cover of the Nov. 2025 issue of National Geographic magazine

disappointed-looking ITER worker

We Don't Have Time for Fusion: https://solarnoon.net/2025/12/03/okay-heres-the-perfect-example.html

Great news from The Guardian: law changes could soon bring balcony solar to millions across US

"Balcony solar panels are now widespread in countries such as Germany – where more than 1m homes have them – but have until now been s... https://solarnoon.net/2025/11/30/great-news-from-the-guardian.html