In a first, last week Budweiser announced that not only will this year’s Super Bowl be powered by wind, the Entire city of Atlanta will be powered by wind for a whole week. Meanwhile solar is expected to resume its international growth in 2019, with a new report suggesting it will surpass 100 gigawatts (GWs) of new installations this year. In the US some of that will come from corporate growth and more community solar.

Atlanta, home to Super Bowl LII, will be powered by 100 percent renewable wind energy—for the whole week!—thanks to a donation from Budweiser. Super Bowls in the past have been powered by renewable energy, some of it generated by systems at the stadiums themselves, but powering the whole host city for a week through a donation is new. 

Data centers leased by Facebook from Digital Realty in North Carolina will be powered by roughly 80 megawatts of solar power. That’s thanks to a new virtual power-purchase agreement (PPA) that allows Facebook to pay for the power and recoup the benefits of the clean energy. 

New Jersey has been a stronghold for rooftop solar power but thus far hasn’t seen much progress in community solar, which can help lower-income residents get access to clean energy if they can’t put it on their roof. That’s about set to change. Last week the state’s utility commission approved rules for a three-year Community Solar Energy Pilot Program in line with Gov. Phil Murphy’s (D) clean energy agenda. 

After global installations of solar fell for the first time ever in 2018, they’re set to rise again in 2019, a new report from Woods Mackenzie found. The company anticipated that the industry will bounce back this year, surpassing 100 gigawatts (GWs) with more diversity and lower-cost projects. 

Solar power showed its muscle last week as announcements in New York and Florida will significantly expand the amount of solar in both states. Likewise in a new reliability study by Fitch Ratings, solar proved more reliable than wind as an asset, leading to some upgraded ratings. 

Florida Power and Light (FPL) is leading the Sunshine State in solar power, making headway on its plans to install 10 million solar panels by 2023 and now the utility has announced that it plans to install 30 million solar panels in Florida by 2030 while reducing its carbon emissions to 67 percent below the national average.

Solar projects are performing better than wind projects in terms of returns on investments, according to Fitch Ratings’ first global review of the renewables sector. The ratings firm, which has upgraded numerous solar projects, points to solar’s ability to meet performance expectations among its findings. 

Last night New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s (D) annual state of the state address he outlined an ambitious energy plan building on his announcement that the state will move to 100 percent clean energy by 2040. In the address he said he would expand the state’s incentive program in an effort to see 1 million solar homes in the Empire State by 2023 and a doubling of solar power in the state to 6 gigawatts by 2025.

Standard Industries and its GAF subsidiary have launched a new company, GAF Energy, entering the rooftop solar market. The company said GAF Energy will allow its distributors and contractors to install solar.