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Solar Energy To Generate Most New US Electricity in 2021

In the quest for renewable energy growth and the lessening of our environmental impact, there’s a clear frontrunner looking to set the pace in 2021 – solar. Solar energy is on track to be the most generative energy source for new electricity in 2021, and the US Energy Information Administration announced that utility-scale solar…

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Solar Energy To Generate Most New US Electricity in 2021

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In the quest for renewable energy growth and the lessening of our environmental impact, there’s a clear frontrunner looking to set the pace in 2021 – solar.

Solar energy is on track to be the most generative energy source for new electricity in 2021, and the US Energy Information Administration announced that utility-scale solar is expected to set records in 2021 by giving the US grid 15.4 GW of new solar capacity

In 2020, solar expanded almost 12GW, with nearly half of those additions coming only in the last two months of 2020.

If these predictions hold, solar will be adding the most new energy to the grid; 39% of total new U.S. electricity generating capacity, to be exact. The rest of the line-up is 31% for wind, 16% for natural gas, 11% for battery storage and 3% for nuclear.

Texas will be the home of the U.S.’ most expansive solar farm, the Samson Solar Energy Center. Around the world, similar investments are being made in solar energy, exemplified by Morgan Stanley Investment Management and the Investment Fund for Developing Countries giving $38 million to Nigerian solar energy provider Daystar Power for expanded solar farms.

On this MarketScale industry update, hosts Daniel Litwin and Tyler Kern discuss the challenges and promise associated with more solar development, how the energy sector will make it a reality, and more.

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Terra-Gen’s $950M Lockhart pairs 365 MW solar with 173.7 MW storage

Terra-Gen’s $950M Lockhart pairs 365 MW solar with 173.7 MW storage

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  • 01Lockhart pairs 365 MW of solar with 173.7 MW of batteries, allowing some solar output to be stored and used during high-need hours.
  • 02Future projects may provide MWh ratings, which help buyers understand how long batteries can deliver their rated power.
  • 03Masdar plans another $20 billion of US investment over the next decade, aiming for up to 25 GW by 2030. Terra-Gen's next projects in California and Texas will show whether Lockhart's battery ratio becomes its standard design.

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  • 01Part of a store battery's value comes from a few grid-wide peak hours a year, the ones that set a site's capacity and transmission charges for the following year.
  • 02A no-capital battery offer should pencil out on demand-charge and peak-rate savings alone; capacity payments, including PJM's 2028/2029 price at its $325 per megawatt-day cap, are upside that won't stay at record levels.
  • 03AES reported first-year availability improving from 88–90% to 95–98%. Use this as a lens when querying subscription providers about assumed year-one performance.

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How nuclear safety equipment proves it can survive a reactor accident

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Element Materials Technology engineers Kyle McVay and Derica Taylor describe how nuclear safety equipment is qualified: thermal aging by the Arrhenius equation, radiation aging, seismic simulation to IEEE 344 and a loss-of-coolant test. The report becomes a design basis document under 10 CFR 50 Appendix B, and ASME QME-1-2025 and NRC Part 53 now reach small modular reactors.

  • 01Qualification runs in a fixed order, aging and irradiation before seismic shaking and the loss-of-coolant test, with a functional check after every stage.
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