The Clean Energy Generation is making progress every day here in the Southeast. From sheep and goats helping maintain solar farms, to solar-powered housing for homeless veterans, to a Florida school district’s all-electric bus fleet, our clean energy future is becoming a reality. Take a look at just six of the many inspiring signs of clean energy adoption in the Southeast we saw over the past few weeks.
Middle photo of Liberty Place under construction courtesy of WBIR; right photo of electric school buses courtesy of Paul Hof-Mahoney/WUFT News
Sheep, goats helping to keep Twiggs County solar farm in operation
Solar sheep! A Georgia solar farm, one of the largest east of the Mississippi, is home to over 2,500 sheep and goats. These animals eat the grass growing around the solar panels, keeping the vegetation low without the use of gas-powered lawnmowers or tractors. This “ewe-nique” solar solution saves money, reduces emissions, prevents erosion, and even helps keep the water in the area clean. Read more.
KCDC installs solar panels at upcoming housing community for veterans, Liberty Place
Crews recently lifted solar panels onto the roof of a new Knoxville property that will house a community of veterans at risk of being homeless. Liberty Place, Knoxville’s Community Development Corporation’s first housing development specifically meant for homeless veterans, will be partially powered by solar energy once it opens its doors. The property, scheduled to open in late 2024, will include 23 permanent supportive housing units. Read more.
Dixie County schools await federally funded electric bus fleet
“The electric school bus movement has been one of the most positive in terms of transportation electrification advancements.” Florida’s Dixie County School District will be rolling out a new fleet of electric school buses funded by a rebate received through the EPA Clean School Bus Program. Twenty-three new electric school buses will soon completely replace the district’s diesel buses on daily routes, bringing with them a wide range of health and economic benefits. Read more.
Left photo of wind turbines and solar panels near Palm Springs, California courtesy of Mario Tama/AFP
US wind and solar on track to overtake coal this year
In a first for wind and solar, the two clean energy resources generated more power than coal through the first seven months of the year. The milestone had been long expected due to a steady stream of coal plant retirements and the rapid growth of solar and wind. In fact, the pair accounted for 16% of U.S. power generation through July, slightly more than coal’s share of the power generation market. Read more.
How a developer hopes to prove sustainable building can be affordable
“We’re trying to prove that attainable is sustainable.” Rob Howard of Howard Building Science is on a mission to build sustainable yet affordable homes for the residents of Granite Falls, North Carolina. Howard’s development company recently introduced 11 new-build homes, built to the Department of Energy’s Zero Energy Ready Home standards and all priced below $270,000. By meeting the strictest standards in energy efficiency, insulation, and air quality, these Zero Energy Ready Homes are 20% more efficient than typical builds. Read more.
New program offers paid solar infrastructure training in Georgetown
Fourteen students in Georgetown, South Carolina recently spent three weeks learning how to install solar and EV infrastructure. And they got paid to do it. The nonprofit Solar United provides students hands-on experiences with clean energy, with plans to expand to nine other cities across the Palmetto State. Zayvion Dennison, 16, said he joined because he wanted to help Georgetown step into the future. “It’s not really about the money. It’s more about just knowing that this could give back to so many others.” Read more.
Follow along each week
These stories highlight just a few of the positive things happening in our area! Every day we see signs of hope. The Clean Energy Generation is creating a future powered by clean energy that leads to clean air and water, good jobs, and vibrant communities.
Would you like to see more stories like this? We’ve got just the thing for you! Every Thursday, we share the latest clean energy news on Instagram with #CleanEnergyNews. Join us as we celebrate the progress and signs of hope in the clean energy transition.
Join the Clean Energy Generation
Together, all of us who are taking action are part of the Clean Energy Generation movement. We’re coming together to create healthier communities and a more secure and sustainable environment, starting now. No matter your age, income, zip code, or abilities, you can play a role. You don’t have to have the answers, learning more is a great way to start. Join us, and we’ll share ideas, resources, tools, and practices to show how we can all be part of the transformation.
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The post A “Ewe-nique” Solar Solution and 5 Other Exciting Signs of Progress in the Southeast appeared first on SACE | Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.
A “Ewe-nique” Solar Solution and 5 Other Exciting Signs of Progress in the Southeast
Weather Guard Lightning Tech
Australia’s $17B Grid Expansion, Recycling Blades to Steel
Allen covers Suzlon hitting 2 GW in a single Indian state, Nabrawind’s crane-free turbine install in Namibia, Antora’s South Dakota thermal battery, Australia’s $17 billion grid expansion, and Shimizu recycling old turbine blades into steel.
Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly email update on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard’s StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary Barnes’ YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us!
GOOD MORNING.
The wind industry is not just getting bigger.
It is getting smarter.
And today … we have the proof.
Let us start in India.
SUZLON GROUP just crossed a milestone.
Two gigawatts of wind orders … in a single Indian state.
The latest deal … sixty-five turbines at three megawatts each
for a company called SUNSURE ENERGY.
SUNSURE is not a utility.
It is an independent power producer
building round-the-clock clean energy
for data centers … electric vehicles … and heavy industry.
Wind paired with solar and battery storage.
Power that does not stop when the sun goes down.
SUZLON is already building six hundred and sixty-four megawatts
of additional commercial and industrial projects in the same region.
And SUNSURE … backed by PARTNERS GROUP of Switzerland …
has seven gigawatts in development across India
with a target of ten gigawatts by two thousand thirty.
That is not government-led.
That is private capital chasing wind.
Now … across the ocean to Africa.
A Spanish company called NABRAWIND [NAH-brah-wind]
just solved a problem that has plagued remote wind farms for years.
How do you install a turbine
when you cannot get a crane to the site?
Their answer is a system called SKYLIFT.
No heavy-lift cranes. None.
A self-erecting tower combined with a blade installation tool
they call the BLADERUNNER.
They just put up a GOLDWIND six-megawatt turbine
at a wind farm in NAMIBIA.
And here is the part that changes the math.
Traditional crane installation needs calm air.
Six to eight meters per second. Maximum.
NABRAWIND’s system works in fifteen meters per second sustained …
with gusts up to twenty.
That site blows hard. All the time.
Which is exactly why they chose it.
When complete … seven turbines …
two hundred and thirty gigawatt-hours a year.
About six percent of NAMIBIA’s entire electricity demand.
NABRAWIND was acquired by Australia’s FORTESCUE last year
as part of its industrial decarbonization push.
So India is stacking private-sector wind orders.
Africa is installing turbines without cranes.
And in SOUTH DAKOTA …
they are storing the wind itself.
A California startup called ANTORA ENERGY
just built a five-gigawatt-hour thermal battery
at an ethanol plant in BIG STONE CITY.
More than two hundred solid carbon blocks.
When the wind blows at night and nobody needs the power …
the blocks absorb cheap electricity and heat up.
When the plant needs energy …
the blocks release heat or generate electricity
through special cells that capture light
from superheated material.
Think of it as a giant toaster oven battery.
Full power expected by October.
The plant’s president put it simply.
Nobody has got a switch for the wind.
It blows when it wants to blow.
Now … down under.
The AUSTRALIAN government just announced
the biggest single expansion of its electricity grid.
Nineteen renewable energy projects.
Seven-point-eight gigawatts of generation.
Seven-point-nine gigawatt-hours of battery storage.
Seventeen billion dollars in private investment.
Nineteen thousand construction jobs.
Power for four million homes.
Among the largest … RWE’s [arr-vay’s] THEODORE wind farm in QUEENSLAND.
One-point-one gigawatts. Up to one hundred and seventy turbines.
Three billion Australian dollars.
RWE … the same company building offshore wind
in England and Denmark …
is now building onshore in AUSTRALIA.
And the AUSTRALIAN government is not stopping.
They just opened the next round of tenders.
Another five gigawatts.
Finally … JAPAN.
Major contractor SHIMIZU [shee-MEE-zoo] CORPORATION
has developed a way to recycle old wind turbine blades.
Not into park benches. Not into landfill.
Into steel.
The blades are cut and crushed into a material
that goes into electric furnaces
to adjust the carbon content of steel …
making it harder and stronger.
JAPAN expects to replace one hundred to two hundred turbines a year
by the two thousand thirties.
That is two to three thousand tonnes of blade waste. Annually.
SHIMIZU has built about twenty percent
of the wind power facilities in JAPAN.
They see this technology as a way to grow
their entire wind energy business.
So … let us step back.
India stacks two gigawatts of private-sector wind orders.
Africa installs turbines in gale-force winds … without a crane.
South Dakota stores surplus wind in superheated carbon blocks.
Australia backs nineteen projects with seventeen billion dollars.
And Japan turns old blades into stronger steel.
From the factory floor to the scrap yard …
from the wind farm to the furnace …
the industry is solving problems
at every stage of a turbine’s life.
And that’s the state of the wind industry for the 25th of May 2026.
Join us for the UPTIME WIND ENERGY PODCAST tomorrow.
We’ve all heard ideas like the one being expressed here, though this one sounds extreme. Jail sentence? Education is exclusively an exercise in pounding in bad habits?
What’s the outcome for students in the very worst of our schools that make no attempt whatsoever to help its pupils learn to think critically? Well, their kids learn to:
- Read and write
- Do math, at least through algebra
- Understand some level of history and geography
- Make friends and get along with others
- Establish independence from the parents
- Gain the qualifications for employment
What’s the alternative? Illiteracy? Social isolation? Child labor? Poverty? Neurotic sloth? Being a burden on society?
Is it a coincidence that the countries with the best educated children are the happiest, sanest and most productive nations on the planet?
If you’re a competent woman working at the highest echelon in the U.S. government, better start packing your bags.
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