Last week was another week of milestones for renewable energy, both big and small. For investors, there may be some good news that will help shape solar energy and energy storage, in particular, for years to come.
Before I get to the records taking place in renewables, it's worth highlighting a surprising new booster to the industry.
Image source: Getty Images.
Sean Hannity goes to bat for solar energy
Some strange allies of the solar industry are emerging as the International Trade Commission and ultimately President Trump figures out what remedies of the Section 201 trade case will look like. This week, Sean Hannity released a radio ad that said in part, "Taxpayers should not have to bail out one foreign-owned company only for their foreign financiers to get another payout."
As the solar industry tries to find ways to communicate how many jobs would be lost if tariffs are implemented and how it would actually make domestic solar energy more expensive. Solar companies like SunPower (NASDAQ: SPWR), Sunrun (NASDAQ: RUN), and Vivint Solar (NYSE: VSLR) who have fought against tariffs may never have though Hannity would be an ally of theirs, that's where we are today. And this may be the biggest voice getting through to the White House when a decision is finally made.
China is going all-in on solar energy
A record, 75 GW of solar energy capacity was installed in 2016, enough to power 12.3 million homes. In 2017, the Asia Europe Clean Energy Advisory say China alone will install 50 GW of capacity as programs like Top Runner and a feed-in tariff have driven project development.
Through September, the organization estimates that 42 GW of solar was installed, which would already be the most any country has ever installed in a single year. Not only is China taking solar energy extremely seriously, it's leaving the rest of the world in the dust in the process.
Jeff Bezos litters shards of glass at Texas wind farm
Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) opened its biggest wind farm yet this week and Jeff Bezos celebrated the event by smashing a bottle of champagne on a wind turbine.
The project is known as Amazon Wind Farm Texas and consists of over 100 wind turbines that will deliver over 1 million MW-hrs of electricity to the grid each year. Amazon has 18 renewable energy projects so far and will nearly triple that number in the near future as it invests more in clean sources of energy for warehouses and data centers. Before long, it could be the biggest corporate consumer of renewable energy in the country.