Renewable Energy
Generation is no longer the hard part. Solar and wind are the cheapest new capacity in most markets, and in 2026 they make up the overwhelming majority of what actually connects to grids — around 79 GW of the 86 GW being added in the United States alone.
The hard parts have moved downstream: what the power is worth when everyone generates at the same moment, whether the wires exist to move it, and how much firm capacity a variable resource can be credited with. BrightVolt covers wind, solar, hydro, grids and home electrification with those questions in front.
The BrightVolt Take: Heat Pumps Sell on the Price Ratio
Norway installs 14 times more heat pumps per home than Britain. The gap isn’t climate ambition or subsidies. It’s the electricity-to-gas price ratio, and Europe’s spring rebound proves it.
The West Licenses Pumped Storage. China Builds It.
Global pumped storage passed 201 GW in 2025 with 243 GW under construction. China accounts for 218 GW of it. North America has 60 GW in development and almost nothing being built.
Agrivoltaics: What 320 Experiments Actually Found
Of 264 crop trials under solar panels, 59.8% yielded less than open field and 12.9% more. The case for agrivoltaics survives that, but not in the form it is usually sold.
China’s Coal Share Fell Below Half. Coal Still Grew.
Coal supplied 49.7% of China’s electricity in the first half of 2026, a record low share. Generation rose, construction continues, and the other official statistical series still puts coal above 50%.
The BrightVolt Take: Europe’s Solar Problem Is Value
Solar hit 25% of EU electricity in June 2026. European solar farms captured a record-low 38% of the wholesale price, and France managed 9.5% in April. Stop counting gigawatts.
Net Metering Is Ending. Homeowners Are Buying Batteries.
Battery attachment on new Californian home solar went from 14% to 57% in a year. Maryland has now dated the end of one-for-one net metering, and the 30% federal credit is gone.
The BrightVolt Take: Storage Just Overtook Wind on Winter
PJM credited onshore wind at 41% of nameplate and a four-hour battery at 50% for 2026/27. In the 2028/29 auction it was wind 34% and storage 59%. The lines have crossed.
Solar and Storage Are 79% of New US Grid Capacity in 2026
The EIA projects a record 86 GW of new US generating capacity this year. Solar takes 43.4 GW and storage 24 GW, leaving natural gas with one gigawatt in every fourteen.
The BrightVolt Take: Solar Isn’t the Bottleneck. The Queue Is.
Record solar output means little when 773 GW is stuck in a queue that now takes 61 months to clear. The constraint on powering the AI boom cleanly is interconnection, not generation.
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