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PDX Solar

@pdxsolar.org
45 followers 120 following 89 posts

A solar and new energy education nonprofit. Promoting independent, affordable, libre solar energy in Portland, Oregon pdxsolar.org - Lux Liberat

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Reposted by PDX Solar
David Roberts @volts.wtf · 26/04/2026
"...periods of ultra-cheap—and sometimes effectively free—electricity have become a regular feature of life in parts of the region." Can't do that with fossil fuels.
atmos.earth
Blowin’ in the Wind: How Nordic Countries Made Electricity Free | Atmos
As wind and hydropower flood Nordic grids, electricity prices are plunging and offering a glimpse of a cheaper energy future.
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Justin Mikulka @justinmikulka.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
Earlier this month I wrote this piece where I showed the simple math that explains why LNG growth is doomed and LNG overall can't compete on economics.
powering-the-planet.ghost.io
The Simple Math of the Death of LNG
Imagine you wanted to buy a new car.  Now imagine that you have a choice of two cars that are identical except one of the cars requires you to buy expensive fuel to run it and the other runs on free f...
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PDX Solar @pdxsolar.org · 12/04/2026
☀️
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PDX Solar @pdxsolar.org · 10/04/2026
That's a lot of sunshine! www.pv-magazine.com/2026/04/02/g...
511GW of solar capacity added in 2025 globally
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PDX Solar @pdxsolar.org · 10/04/2026
Congrats Colorado! www.senatedems.co/newsroom/sen...
senatedems.co
Senate Approves Bill to Allow Plug-In Solar Panels — Colorado Senate Democrats
HB26-1007 would save Coloradans money on their energy bills by expanding access to cost-saving solar
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John Farrell @johnffarrell.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
With all evidence that clean energy portfolios (wind/solar/storage) are less expensive, we should absolutely prohibit new large loads to be served with polluting, expensive, and geopolitically vulnerable fuel for power supply.
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PDX Solar @pdxsolar.org · 07/04/2026
War is the number one threat to the clean energy transition that is necessary for a healthy, prosperous future for all life on this planet.
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John Smillie @johnsmillie42.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
I think if ME, VA, UT, and maybe 2 more states pass balcony solar (one in the Midwest would be nice), it's going to be so widely available that everyone will be able to get it whether their state has signed off or not. www.canarymedia.com/articles/sol...
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Steph Routh (she/they) @stephrouth.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
Just in time for great weather and terrible gas prices, it's Portland's PCEF-funded E-bike Rebate Program: * Standard: up to $1,600 * Cargo: up to $2,350 * Adaptive: up to $8,500 Eligibility: Income at or below 60% AMI, age 18 or over, and live in Portland. Check it out: portlandebikerebate.com
portlandebikerebate.com
Start Here - Portland Rides
Portland E-Bike Rebate Program: Get up to $1,600 off a new Standard Class 1 e-bike, plus $300 for accessories.
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PDX Solar @pdxsolar.org · 04/04/2026
Utah, Virginia, and now Maine! pv-magazine-usa.com/2026/04/03/m...
pv-magazine-usa.com
Maine becomes third state to pass plug-in solar legislation
The Pine Tree State joins Utah and Virginia in advancing a law that establishes rules for small plug-in solar generation devices.
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Tamar Haspel @tamarhaspel.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
An acre of solar panels produces 50-200x more energy than an acre of crops for fuel. That's why growing fuel on farmland is nuts.
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Don Schreiber/Methane Mad Man @vivarioarriba.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
Using just 2.5% of the land used to grow corn for biofuels for solar panels would produce the same amount of energy.
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Xan López @xanlopez.net · 01/04/2026
Painfully extracted molecules subject to distribution chokepoints simply cannot compete with modular industrial manufacturing.
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Planetary Technologies @planetaryops.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
New installment of The Sun Has Won: Working Paper: The Impact of Renewable Electricity Generation on Grid Stability This one is technical and wonky. TL;DR There is no evidence that increases in renewable generation cause grid instability. 🔌💡 PDF grouper-sponge-bsht.squarespace.com/s/The-Sun-Ha...
grouper-sponge-bsht.squarespace.com
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Adrian Hiel @adrianhiel.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
Electrification is the world's only insurance package that pays you a premium each month.
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PDX Solar @pdxsolar.org · 31/03/2026
Fortunately, there's lifeboats at the prrsonal, community, and state levels! Policy support for ease of facility siting, stable financing, and streamlined permitting can vastly accelerate cleaner, cheaper, better solar, right here in Oregon.
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Canary Media Inc. @canarymedia.com · 27/03/2026
All 6 New England states are considering legalizing balcony solar — a plug-in clean energy solution that’s as easy to assemble as an Ikea bookcase.
canarymedia.com
Balcony solar bills make inroads across New England
Energy affordability woes are pushing all six states to advance legislation allowing DIY, plug-in solar panels. A bill is even nearing the governor’s desk…
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Prof Ray Wills @profraywills.futuresmart.com.au · 04/02/2026
Australia’s grids world-leading Renewables on east coast now >50% penetration In the west > 55% And both still growing With no signs of instability (indeed grid reliability scores are actually increasing), scaling storage and renewables can marginalise gas entirely, slashing emissions and costs
NEM’s diverse renewable mix – solar, wind, and hydro – allowing for reliable displacement without heavy gas fallback. Despite gas’s low volume share, it remains influential in price setting during peaks, as we’ve seen in specific pricing events, and in broader trends where higher gas correlates with elevated costs.In Western Australia's WEM, the world’s largest isolated grid, more renewables brings lower gas, but with greater variability and a steeper threshold. Gas can surge to 60% at low renewables (below 20%), underscoring its historical dominance in Western Australia’s smaller, solar-heavy system..If you reduce gas, you bring down wholesale pricesIf you increase renewables, you bring down wholesale prices
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PDX Solar @pdxsolar.org · 27/03/2026
If people knew how ridiculously easy plug-in solar was, it'd be everywhere. Panels 400w x 2, $400 Microinverter, $200 Cables, etc, $30 Unbox it, plug it in, go have a nap.
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PDX Solar @pdxsolar.org · 25/03/2026
Clean, firm, too cheap to meter. ☀️
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PDX Solar @pdxsolar.org · 24/03/2026
I understand "Lidl" is British for "Costco", and it turns out you can just do this quickly if you have political leadership who understands the stakes and gets out of their own way.
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PDX Solar @pdxsolar.org · 23/03/2026
Batteries eat gas "peaker plants" for breakfast and dinner. Fossil stranded asset risks are enormous- who's gonna clean it up?
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Mark Z. Jacobson @mzjacobson.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
Two new battery records on California ISO grid: Max battery discharge rate: 56.61 GWh/day Max discharge rate as a percent of demand: 38.0% at 6:55 PM 3/12/26 Batteries met 10.5% of all demand 21st straight & 48/71 (68%) days in 2026 with WWS>100% of demand for part of the day
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Akshat Rathi @akshatrathi.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
Electric vehicles are already cutting 2.3 million barrels of oil demand per day. That's about to double under a business-as-usual scenario this decade. It could go faster if EV sales rise, which there are indications they will at this oil price. 🎁🔗 www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
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Jon Moses @jon-moses.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
Funny bit of trolling by the civil servant who put together this chart in the Land Use Framework. Solar energy - a fixation of the rural right - so negligible in percentage land use terms there's not enough space to put a number.
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Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
Just 1 ship packed with solar panels delivers the means to produce as much electricity as 57 LNG tankers or 120 coal ships A world with little fossil fuels has an enormously lighter footprint—starting with zero need for 40% of global shipping
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Kate Marvel @drkatemarvel.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
I anticipated that the energy transition would not go smoothly but I seriously underestimated just how stupid it would be
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Naz Saad @nazishmunch.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
Solar energy is not only saving Pakistan billions in imports - it’s also strengthening the country’s energy security against fossil fuel risks.
dawn.com
Pakistan’s solar boom shielding country from Hormuz disruptions: study
Analysis notes solarisation saved $12 billion in import bill; says every gigawatt of distributed solar deployed is hedge against brewing energy crisis.
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Jan Rosenow @janrosenow.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
Some countries are better positioned to weather this energy crisis than they would have been just a few years ago. That's because of the rapid growth of renewable energy, battery systems and electric vehicles. @npr.org interviewed me for this excellent piece: www.npr.org/2026/03/16/n...
npr.org
Oil and gas prices are soaring. Some countries are ready with solar panels and EVs
As an energy crisis grows, some countries are more prepared because of renewable energy and electric vehicles. Pakistan reduced its reliance on imported natural gas because of the growth of solar.
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PDX Solar @pdxsolar.org · 13/03/2026
More solar -> lower, stable energy prices. www.euronews.com/2026/03/11/s...
euronews.com
Spain could be the only EU country to beat energy price hikes
Spain spent the last six years investing heavily in wind and solar energy, leading to some of the cheapest power prices in Europe.
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
Everything has changed ... except the claims of the fossil fuel lobbyists who infest politics and the media. www.ise.fraunhofer.de/en/press-med...
ise.fraunhofer.de
Photovoltaic Plants with Battery Cheaper than Conventional Power Plants - Fraunhofer ISE
The newest edition of the study by the Fraunhofer ISE on the electricity generation costs of various power plants shows that photovoltaic systems now produce electricity much more cheaply than either ...
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PDX Solar @pdxsolar.org · 13/03/2026
Truly. Electrify everything.
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PDX Solar @pdxsolar.org · 12/03/2026
You love to see it 😎☀️
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PDX Solar @pdxsolar.org · 12/03/2026
Salt batteries! 🧂🔋⚡️ electrek.co/2026/03/11/s...
electrek.co
Sodium-ion batteries hit the Midwestern grid in first-of-its-kind pilot
RWE and Peak Energy will pilot sodium-ion grid batteries in Wisconsin – the first deployment on the MISO grid.
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Jeff Brady @jeffbradynews.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
Utility safety concerns about plug-in solar panels prompted 5 states to delay votes on enabling legislation. Germany has 1.2 million balcony solar panels registered with no safety problems reported. Here's my @npr.org story: www.npr.org/2026/03/12/n...
npr.org
Easy-to-use solar panels are coming, but utilities are trying to delay them
Utilities are convincing lawmakers around the U.S. to delay bills that would allow people to buy solar panels, plug them into an outlet and begin generating electricity.
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PDX Solar @pdxsolar.org · 12/03/2026
Solar & Wind & Batteries.
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John Hanger @jrfhanger.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
Solar grows rapidly in Africa, with Morocco starting construction of 305 MW solar plant. It will operate in July 2027. Morocco has 1285 MW of solar currently. www.pv-magazine.com/2026/03/11/m...
pv-magazine.com
Morocco begins construction on 305 MW Noor Atlas solar program
Morocco’s state energy agency and national utility have signed power purchase agreements (PPAs) and begun construction on six Noor Atlas solar plants totaling 305 MW. The project – financed by KfW, th...
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Akshat Rathi @akshatrathi.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
Are electric vehicles denting oil demand? Yes. By how much? 1.5 million barrels of oil a day, according to EV Curve Futurist. Caveat: These estimates are hard, but the numbers are certainly adding up.
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PDX Solar @pdxsolar.org · 09/03/2026
Solar and wind and batteries exist.
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Bill McKibben @billmckibben.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
Sunlight travels 93 million miles to reach the earth None of them through the Strait of Hormuz billmckibben.substack.com/p/sunlight-t...
billmckibben.substack.com
Sunlight travels 93 million miles to reach the earth
None of them through the Strait of Hormuz
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Akshat Rathi @akshatrathi.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
Past fossil-fuel price spikes left import-dependent countries with two options: pay up or cut fuel use. Now there is an alternative in solar and batteries. I looked at recent examples in Europe, Pakistan, Cuba to glean what might happen with the war on Iran. 🎁🔗 www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
bloomberg.com
How Fossil Fuel Disruptions Lead to Booms in Solar and Batteries
Past oil crises forced countries to cut fuel use and pay high prices, but now falling prices of clean tech offer another solution.
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John Hanger @jrfhanger.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
Good morning with good news: Battery capacity doubles by 2027 & often firms solar! Utility-scale solar jumps 49% (~70 GW) by 2027! Solar is often low-cost option. Utility-scale solar, small-solar, wind & hydro will generate ~29% of USA's electricity in 2027. ieefa.org/resources/so... #energysky
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PDX Solar @pdxsolar.org · 05/03/2026
Meanwhile the price of fuel for solar energy remains the same as it was last week.
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Canary Media Inc. @canarymedia.com · 26/02/2026
Dozens of Illinois cities are locked into coal power contracts for decades to come. These two Chicago suburbs want out.
canarymedia.com
Illinois cities move to cut ties with a massive coal plant
Two communities seeking cleaner, cheaper energy are resisting pressure to extend deals that bind them to getting power from one of the nation’s dirtiest…
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Emil Dimanchev @emildimanchev.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
Solar is cheap, exhibit 3,141,592,653.
A moving stairway leading to an airplane door in Trondheim, Norway. The stairway walls are covered with solar PV panels.
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PDX Solar @pdxsolar.org · 20/02/2026
Big batteries, little batteries, they're all good batteries, bront. bsky.app/profile/cana...
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John Hanger @jrfhanger.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
Why are Petrostate Supporters Desperate? This graphic by @bistline.bsky.social shows US shift from new gas to solar, wind & batteries that took place from ~2010-2025. US installed 54 GW in 2025, 96% clean! The graphic (world is doing same) shows why Petrostate supporters are desperate. #energysky
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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 11/02/2026
A giant aluminum smelter recently decided to locate in Oklahoma rather than Kentucky. Why? OK has cheap wind power. KY is stuck with increasingly expensive fossil power.
canarymedia.com
Loss of green smelter highlights Kentucky’s need for clean electricity
Century Aluminum chose Oklahoma, not Kentucky, for a new smelter. Some say it’s a "wake-up call" for the Bluegrass State to modernize – and decarbonize –…
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PDX Solar @pdxsolar.org · 11/02/2026
PGE: we already have Virtual Power Plants at home! The "VPPs":
screenshot of gmail inbox with an email, subject: PGE Customers: $10 smart thermostats
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Justin Mikulka @justinmikulka.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
Battery costs down 60% in two years!! The economics of solar plus storage are tough to beat. The "businessman president" doesn't seem to understand that here in America. Everyone else does. And solar wins.
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