Researchers from the University of California Berkeley and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a device that uses solar power to pull liters of water from the air—even in arid areas like deserts. The device uses a metal-organic framework (MOF) that can absorb gasses and liquids to condense water vapor in the air into water. Such devices will be important as clean drinking water becomes more scarce. 

Walmart will install a total of 40 megawatt hours of energy storage systems across 27 of its stores in Southern California in the first phase of a project to save money. The systems will use Advanced Microgrid Solutions’ Hybrid Electric Building technology, which will improve energy efficiency, provide guaranteed energy savings and grid support to local utilities, all at no upfront cost to Walmart.

The EmPOWER Maryland energy efficiency program, which will save residents and businesses $4 billion while creating 68,000 jobs, was extended through 2023 this week, thanks to action through the state legislature. The news was heralded by environmental and sustainability advocates.

Vermont isn’t one of the US’s sunniest states but it has big ambitions for the sun and solar power. The state wants to source 20 percent of its energy from solar power by 2025 and ultimately 90 percent of its energy from renewables by 2050. The state and partners recently released The Vermont Solar Pathways study, which illustrates how it can get there. 

Last year renewable energy (excluding large hydroelectric generation) accounted for 55 percent of the new electric generation added across the world. It also was the biggest year for installations yet, as the world added 138.5 gigawatts of new renewable energy capacity. That’s up 8 percent from the 127.5 GWs of renewable energy capacity brought online in 2015. 

California’s robust solar industry has surpassed another threshold—supplying roughly 50 percent of the state’s electric needs, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). The agency reported that the increase in solar power resulted in wholesale electric prices that were below $0 per megawatt hour. 

Over the weekend Tesla quietly added a new section to its site under its Energy channel, "Solar Panels." This isn’t the much ballyhooed Solar Roof and tiles that Tesla unveiled last October, but rather Tesla’s lower-profile approach to solar that seeks to blend solar panels onto a home’s rooftop. 

Last week saw some interesting developments in solar power. For instance, iconic actor William Shatner, who played Captain Kirk in Star Trek, is going solar. Even more interesting, perhaps, a coal mining museum in Kentucky is going solar—because it’s cheaper than coal! Elsewhere numerous utilities announced big plans for solar expansion and cities keep growing their solar installations. 

The Air Force Research Laboratory’s Advanced Power Technology Office (APTO) is designing the forward operating bases of tomorrow and a key component of any modern military operation is reliable power. The lab is looking to create a totally deployable, self-sustaining microgrid power system and a key component of such systems is solar power. 

With some irony even a museum dedicated to coal, the Kentucky Coal Mining Museum, in the heart of coal country, is turning to solar power to provide it’s energy. The simple reason given—it’s cheaper.