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Undisclosed communication devices reportedly discovered in Chinese-manufactured solar panels and related equipment have sparked concerns among U.S. officials about the vulnerability of the nation’s power grid, according to a Reuters report. These “rogue” devices, found over the past nine months, could potentially destabilize energy infrastructure and trigger widespread blackouts, sources familiar with the matter told the outlet. The undocumented devices, including cellular radios, were identified in solar power inverters, batteries, electric vehicle chargers, and heat pumps produced by several Chinese suppliers. ... The U.S. has found Trojan horse communication devices in Chinese-made solar power inverters. They are used to connect...

BUCKHOLTS, Texas (AP) — On rural Texas farmland, beneath hundreds of rows of solar panels, a troop of stocky sheep rummage through pasture, casually bumping into one another as they remain committed to a single task: chewing grass. The booming solar industry has found an unlikely mascot in sheep as large-scale solar farms crop up across the U.S. and in the plain fields of Texas. In Milam County, outside Austin, SB Energy operates the fifth-largest solar project in the country, capable of generating 900 megawatts of power across 4,000 acres (1,618 hectares). How do they manage all that grass? With...

Everyone was out of the home, and no injuries were reported in the fire, according to fire crews on the scene. The fire was in the attic. It wasn't immediately clear what caused the flames or how extensive the damage was

In a devastating blow to the Democrat’s Green New Deal agenda, the solar panel farm at Lake Placid, Florida, was ripped apart by Hurricane Milton, exposing the inherent vulnerabilities of relying on so-called “green energy.” The 380-acre Lake Placid Solar Power Plant, was meant to symbolize the future of energy, but after Hurricane Milton’s landfall, it now stands as a symbol of the failures of environmental utopianism. The 45-megawatt (MW) plant consists of approximately 180,000 tracking solar panels. This solar facility, touted for its ability to power over 12,000 homes at peak production, was ravaged by the storm’s extreme conditions....

A tiny town in North Carolina that’s just been devastated by hurricane Helene could end up severely disrupting the global supply chain for microchips and solar panels. Nestled in the Appalachian mountains, the community of Spruce Pine, population 2,194, is known for its hiking, local artists and as America’s sole source of high-purity quartz. Helene dumped more than 2 feet of rain on the town, destroying roads, shops and cutting power and water. But its reach will likely be felt far beyond the small community.

A homeowner’s plan to make his home greener by switching to a heat pump and installing solar panels in 2023 took an unexpected turn when his then insurance company, CAA, nearly cancelled his policy over the upgrades – eventually pulling coverage entirely due to the solar panels. A CBC News report cited Adam Szabo as saying: “I was confused, of course. I’m like, ‘What do you mean?’ It just doesn’t make sense, right?” Szabo’s desire to boost his property’s value, reduce environmental impact, and lower energy costs was overshadowed by insurance complications he didn’t foresee.

Lebanon officials are now reporting that multiple home solar energy systems have reportedly exploded in various neighborhoods across Beirut. This attack follows closely on the heels of Tuesday’s pager blasts, which claimed the lives of 12 and left nearly 4,000 wounded in what is rapidly becoming an unparalleled security nightmare for the terrorist organization. On Wednesday, walkie-talkies exploded simultaneously at various Hezbollah-controlled locations across the country. Now, reports emerged from Lebanon’s Official News Agency detailing how home solar systems—often touted as the solution to climate change—were also going up in flames. Al Jazeera reported, “Several blasts took place simultaneously, Hashem...

A major solar company has just filed for bankruptcy as its business model is no longer viable in America’s current climate. SunPower announced that it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Monday. SunPower filed for bankruptcy in Delaware after a string of corporate struggles... changes to California’s rooftop solar subsidy programs and high interest rates in Democrat President Joe Biden’s economy have weighed down its business. Before it collapsed, SunPower was among America’s leading solar companies. SunPower will look to sell some of its assets to rival solar company Complete Solaria. Meanwhile, the company and some of its other subsidiaries...

The Biden administration made a pair of announcements Thursday that aim to bolster solar energy in Puerto Rico — which frequently deals with power outages. The Energy Department announced a conditional agreement to loan $861 million to finance the construction of two solar farms and batteries to keep the power stored even when it’s not sunny. The department will also provide up to an additional $325 million for solar and battery storage as part of a new program aimed at helping the island’s power become more resilient to extreme weather. The nearly $900 million loan will go to Clean Flexible...

In sunny California, solar panels are everywhere. They sit in dry, desert landscapes in the Central Valley and are scattered over rooftops in Los Angeles’s urban center. By last count, the state had nearly 47 gigawatts of solar power installed — enough to power 13.9 million homes and provide over a quarter of the Golden State’s electricity. But now, the state and its grid operator are grappling with a strange reality: There is so much solar on the grid that, on sunny spring days when there’s not as much demand, electricity prices go negative. Gigawatts of solar are “curtailed” —...

A 3,000-acre solar farm 40 miles from Houston, Texas, was massively damaged on March 15 when huge chunks of hail fell from the sky and shattered hundreds of panels, leaving the facility running at “reduced capacity.” From the look of the pictures, it would seem that it’s operating at heavily reduced capacity.A hailstorm this month has damaged thousands of solar panels at the 350-MW Fighting Jays Solar Farm in Fort Bend County, Texas, “Golf ball”-sized hail fell in the area on March 15, and aerial footage captured from a helicopter offered a glimpse at the extent of the damage pic.twitter.com/3G4SkaRTLI—...

“While in use, solar panels safely generate electricity without creating any air emissions. However, like any source of energy, there are associated wastes that need to be properly recycled or disposed of when solar panels reach their end of life,” said the EPA. “As the solar photovoltaic (PV) market grows, so will the volume of end-of-life panels.” By 2030, the United States is expected to have as much as one million total tons of solar panel waste. For comparison, the EPA says the U.S. municipal solid waste (MSW) in 2018 was 292.4 million tons. By 2050, the United States is...

We have a solar array where I work..it's in a college setting..but image this being EVERYDAY in the UPPER MIDWEST.. SNOW on the panel...ZERO energy being "created"

An investigation has been launched into the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) after Democrat President Joe Biden’s administration was found to have sent billions of dollars in taxpayers’ money to a fraudulent solar company. Biden’s DOE recently gave a $3 billion award to a solar energy company that has been accused of scamming vulnerable customers. Republican leaders in the House and Senate are probing the DOE over the move. The investigations are being led by House Energy and Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Senate Energy and Natural Resources Ranking Member John Barrasso (R-WY). In a letter to DOE...

While investments in renewable energy have doubled since 2010, power grid funding has remained ‘static.’.. Electricity grid capacity available in the world isn't keeping pace with the rapid growth of "clean energy" technologies, possibly putting governments' climate goals at risk, according to a recent report by the International Energy Agency (IEA). In order to achieve climate goals set by global governments, more than 80 million kilometers (49.7 million miles) of electric grids have to be added or refurbished by 2040, which is the “equivalent of the entire existing global grid,” according to the Oct. 17 IEA report. Even though “electrification...

A solar salesperson spent five hours in July on a site visit with Jan, a 76-year-old homeowner, to convince her that installing a small rooftop solar system on her Northeast Heights home would eliminate her electric bills overnight. Later, after printing out the one-page financial document she signed, Jan realized it was a 25-year agreement with a $79-per-month repayment plan. That’s $18 more than her current utility payments, which average about $61 per month based on a review of all her Public Service Co. of New Mexico bills since January 2022. Jan did cancel after consulting with Affordable Solar, which...

Sunlight beats down on a graveyard for dead solar panels in Yuma, Arizona, hundreds stacked in neat piles, waiting for their next life. The great majority of worn and damaged panels are still dumped in landfills. But with more and more piling up, many people know that needs to change. In this desert city where Arizona, California, Sonora and Baja California meet, North America’s first utility-scale solar panel recycling plant has opened to address what founders of We Recycle Solar call a “tsunami” of solar waste. Plans to address climate change rely on massively scaling up clean, solar electricity. The...

Talk about being sold a bill of duds.Michael Shellenberger (that wonderful, courageous man) had a serious of tweets this afternoon and I could not believe my eyes.People say solar panels don't produce carbon emissions, but they do. And now, a major new investigation by Environmental Progress, drawing on the research of @enricomariutti , finds that solar panels made in China produce at least 3x more carbon emissions than IPCC claims. pic.twitter.com/y4a2dvgyZj— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) July 24, 2023The report from Environmental Progress points out a fatal flaw in the solar panel data all of this frenzied switch to renewables is based...

Wind turbines, once touted by the few wealthy and less populated countries as a clean solution for electricity, are now becoming an eyesore, a hazard, and a significant environmental threat. After decades of operating around the world for the few wealthy and less populated countries, wind turbines continue to have a live expectancy of about 20 years. To date there has yet to be discovered a financially viable means of recycling those wind turbines. As a result, today’s old wind turbines are being dumped into toxic waste dumps. Because wind turbine blades are very difficult to recycle, the waste stream...

The Scottsbluff, Nebraska 5.2 MW Community Solar project was part of the NPPD’s Sunwise program that consisted of an array has over 14,000 solar panels. It’s reported that it had been put into operation in 2019. Surely the project had been ceremoniously put into operation, with dignitaries and proponents proclaiming it would reliably deliver cheap and clean energy, reduce the state’s carbon footprint and contribute to a bright and climate-friendly future. Now it has been just recently reported that the multimillion dollar solar energy park was literally reduced to a heap of rubble as hail literally pummeled it to a...