Good morning and happy Friday,

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A recent article compares the renewable energy policies of three midwestern states – Michigan, Illinois, and Minnesota – and finds that Michigan’s new renewable targets are the most ambitious in the region, setting it on a course to have 100% clean electricity by 2040.

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For its part, although Kansas is home to nearly 9 GW of clean power – much of it wind energy – some folks are skeptical about solar development. Meanwhile, this week the federal government released the Fifth National Climate Assessment, which among other things finds that “In the 1980s, on average, the US experienced one billion-dollar disaster every four months. That’s now one every three weeks.”

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Read on for more.

From Maryland to Kentucky to Wyoming, places that formerly relied on coal are reinventing themselves as clean energy champions. The stories featured below coincide with a hot-off-the-presses report from Clean Investment Monitor that finds the IRA is delivering where it’s needed most. Here are a few seams of info:

• The new report, Clean Investment at the Community Level, finds that energy communities – that is, low-income communities or communities that have traditionally produced fossil fuels – “are successfully attracting an outsized share of national clean investment.”  
• In Maryland, Amazon has announced plans for two utility-scale solar projects, including a 30,000 panel, 170 MW solar farm – which will be the state’s largest – on a repurposed brownfield in Garrett County that was formerly a 120-year-old coal mine.
• Thanks in part to efforts by The Sierra Club, the Kentucky Public Service Commission approved Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities' plan to retire five fossil fuel plants and add 877 MW of solar generation and a 500 MWh battery – a whopping nine-fold increase in the utility’s renewables portfolio.

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Money talks. Incentives in the IRA are channeling significant clean energy investments to communities that formerly depended on fossil fuels, with these areas receiving nearly double their population share in funding. The majority of these places are also Republican strongholds, and Democrats are hoping economic gains from the new energy economy will translate into votes in the 2024 elections.

New legislation proposed in New Hampshire has caused a kerfuffle because it seeks to redefine nuclear power as clean energy – potentially setting it on a collision course that “pits nuclear power and renewable energy against each other for the same funding pool.” Here’s why that’s radioactive for some:  

• The proposed bill would enable nuclear power generators to receive payments for contributing clean, zero-carbon energy to the grid. The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Michael Vose, argues that this is necessary to ensure that baseload power “won’t be driven out of business by subsidized renewable power." 
• Specifically, Vose is concerned that in the absence of “affordable, scalable” energy storage, “too many renewables...will make the whole grid unreliable" – an idea that has been widely debunked by experts.
• A much more legitimate concern, critics of the bill say, is that including nuclear power in the clean energy standard will flood the market with nuclear-generated clean energy certificates, thereby devaluing them – and chilling investment in wind and solar projects by wiping out a key revenue stream.

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A two-market solution. It’s possible the legislation will propose a second standard for nukes that operates independently from that of renewables. This approach would also preserve a key source of funding for grants and rebates for residential solar installations and energy efficiency projects – which currently comes from alternative compliance payments made to the state’s Renewable Energy Fund by utilities that fall short of their renewable energy targets.

• Market Map: Every region of the country is taking climate action - here’s how
• American-made: Tax credits lure solar firms to U.S.
• Ramping Up: U.S. and China Agree to Displace Fossil Fuels
• Energy Hubs: Wind and solar energy are booming in surprising places

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• Harvey County bans large-scale wind farms and solar farms
• Mahoning Commissioners Dim Plans for Solar Farm in Ohio
• Montgomery County board extends wind turbine moratorium in Iowa
• Pottawattamie County issues moratorium on wind and solar in Iowa

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“Self-healing” can refer to a wide range of things, from introspective self-help to The Terminator’s memorable self-repair. It now also refers to solar panels – in space.

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The punnily named Arizona startup Solestial has designed ultra-thin solar panels that can withstand the harsh conditions of space and self-repair radiation damage, thereby addressing a key challenge that has stymied the longevity of solar panels in space environments.

The company has garnered attention from NASA, securing contracts to refine and develop these innovative solar arrays for use in space stations and other permanent space infrastructure. Its panels are unique in their ability to withstand the challenges of thin silicon technology, delivering an impressive solar conversion efficiency of 20% while being only 20 microns thick.

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As a result, the solar cells are not only more durable, but also have enhanced end-of-life efficiency, an improvement that could significantly reduce the costs associated with solar power in space and marks a promising advancement for future space missions and infrastructure.

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And who knows...one day, we may be harvesting solar power in space and beaming it to Earth!