Solar and Geothermal
United States – Solar and Geothermal
Solar Energy – Deployment and Incentives: Solar power continued its remarkable growth across the United States in 2025, driven by supportive policies and dramatic cost declines. By the end of 2025, the U.S. had well over 150 GW of solar PV capacity (utility-scale and distributed) – more than double the capacity from five years prior. This boom has been fueled largely by the Investment Tax Credit (ITC), which the Inflation Reduction Act fixed at 30% through 2032, along with new bonus credits for domestic content and siting in energy communities. These incentives made 2025 a banner year: the solar industry installed an estimated ~20 GW of new PV, a record high, despite some supply chain hiccups 57 . A notable trend is the rise of large-scale solar farms often paired with battery storage. Utilities from California to Florida have been adding giant solar + storage projects to meet peak demand after sunset. For instance, Nevada commissioned the 380 MW “Desert Star” solar farm with 200 MW of batteries in 2025, and Florida Power & Light brought several 74.5 MW solar plants online as part of its “30 by 30” plan (30 million panels by 2030). Distributed solar (rooftop and community) also expanded. With high retail electricity rates and improved net metering in some states, residential solar had a strong year. Notably, California’s switch to a less generous net metering regime (NEM 3.0) in 2023 initially slowed its rooftop market, but by 2025 the impact was partly offset by falling prices and adoption of batteries to maximize self-consumption. Across the country, the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (a $27B “green bank” from the IRA) kicked in funding for low-income solar deployment; the EPA’s Solar for All grants in 2024 awarded billions to community-based solar programs, which began rolling out in 2025. These efforts aim to broaden solar access to renters and disadvantaged communities. Federal lands saw a solar push too: the Bureau of Land Management, under its 2023 solar programmatic update, streamlined permitting in Solar Energy Zones. By mid-2025, BLM approved plans for 6 new utility-scale solar projects on public lands in the Southwest, totaling over 3 GW.
However, the solar boom has encountered siting and grid challenges. In numerous states, particularly the Midwest and Northeast, local opposition to large solar farms has grown. Residents and officials in rural areas sometimes view utility-scale projects as eyesores or a loss of farmland. In 2025 there were high-profile disputes: in Ohio, local referendums halted two planned solar farms; in Indiana, a county imposed a moratorium on new solar over concerns about agricultural impacts. In response, some state governments stepped in – for example, Illinois and New Jersey passed laws limiting local governments’ ability to unreasonably block renewable projects. The solar industry is increasingly focusing on community engagement and dual-use practices (like agrivoltaics, where crops or pollinator habitats grow under panels) to ease concerns. Additionally, there is a trend to use disturbed lands: putting solar on brownfields, landfills, and mine lands. The DOE and EPA actively promote this, and 2025 saw several such projects – like a solar array built atop a capped landfill in New England, and plans for solar on reclaimed mine land in Virginia. This approach can bypass some land-use controversies and even provide economic reuse of blighted sites 23 .
Permitting and Funding: Permitting timelines for solar (and wind) projects have drawn attention at the federal level. While solar farms generally face simpler permitting than pipelines or transmission, larger projects (>150 MW) can trigger federal NEPA reviews (if on federal land or involving federal funds). In 2025, there were ongoing efforts in Congress to pass permitting reform that could expedite clean energy projects – proposals included setting shot clocks for reviews or limiting injunctions. A modest reform was included in the 2025 budget bill: it designated the DOE as the lead agency for coordinating federal permits on renewable energy on federal lands, aiming to cut red tape. On the funding side, beyond tax credits, the DOE’s Loan Programs Ofice has re-emerged as a key financier. In 2025, DOE’s LPO closed a deal for up to $1 billion in loan guarantees to a group of community solar projects that aggregate to 1 GW across several states – an innovative use of the program to support distributed solar. Also, the Rural Utilities Service (within USDA) launched a new program under the IRA that provides zero-interest loans and grants for rural co-ops to build renewables; by the end of 2025, multiple rural electric co-ops had applied and begun constructing solar farms (often with storage) to serve their communities, leveraging this federal support.
Technical Developments in Solar: Technologically, solar continues to advance. 2025 saw the first commercial shipments of perovskite-silicon tandem solar panels from a U.S. startup, which promise higher eficiencies (over 28% in lab tests) – though these are in pilot installations for now. Mainstream panels are around 21% eficient, but research is pushing that upward. There’s also growing use of bifacial panels (collecting light on both sides) on large solar farms, and these have become standard for utility projects due to 5-10% higher energy yield. Integration with storage is another tech trend: more than 30% of new utility-scale solar in 2025 came with co-located batteries for smoothing output 57 . In California and Hawaii, virtually all new solar must be paired with storage for grid reliability. Additionally, solar is branching into new niches: floating solar arrays on reservoirs (which reduce evaporation while generating power) popped up in states like New Jersey and California in 2025, and building-integrated PV (like solar roof shingles and facades) gained modest market traction as aesthetics improve and Tesla and others refine their solar roof offerings.
Geothermal Energy – Deployment and Innovations: Geothermal energy, though much smaller in scale than solar or wind, made important strides in 2025. The U.S. has about 3.7 GW of conventional geothermal electric capacity (mostly in California, Nevada, and Utah). Growth in conventional hydrothermal plants is steady but slow – one new geothermal power plant of ~30 MW came online in Nevada in 2025, and a couple of small plants (under 10 MW) were added in Oregon and Utah at existing fields. The big news is Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS): this technology aims to engineer geothermal reservoirs in broader regions, potentially “geothermal anywhere.” In 2025, the Department of Energy’s GeoShot initiative (launched in 2022) bore fruit: the DOE-supported Utah FORGE project successfully completed an EGS demonstration, achieving sustained flow and heat extraction from a hot dry rock well pair at over 400°F. This achievement – essentially creating an artificial geothermal reservoir – was heralded as a breakthrough, proving the concept that EGS can work 110 . A private company, Fervo Energy, also built on its 2023 pilot success in Nevada; by late 2025, Fervo was supplying continuous geothermal power to Google from an EGS well system, demonstrating it could modulate output to match demand (a potential clean 24/7 resource). These developments have invigorated interest and funding: the DOE in 2025 announced a $75 million initiative to test EGS in different geologies (some sites identified in Texas and West Virginia – which, notably, could provide a transition for oil/gas drilling expertise into geothermal drilling).
On the incentive side, geothermal benefited from parity in federal support. The IRA gives geothermal power plants the same 30% ITC or production tax credit as solar/wind, which is significant for economics. It’s spurring companies to revisit old geothermal fields for expansion and to explore new areas like the Cascades and Gulf Coast (where some high-temperature resources exist at depth). Additionally, the IRA added a 30% credit for geothermal heating and cooling systems (ground-source heat pumps) for homes and businesses, which boosted that market. By 2025, ground-source heat pump installations were growing, especially in colder regions and in large buildings (where they can be very eficient).
Permitting and Siting (Geothermal): Geothermal projects face unique permitting issues – mainly related to water usage and induced seismicity fears. In 2025, California streamlined its permit process for geothermal in the Imperial Valley, an area with vast untapped geothermal resources alongside the Salton Sea. This is partly to support the state’s clean grid goals and also to extract lithium from geothermal brines (a two-for-one economic opportunity: renewable power and battery metal). The Bureau of Land Management also held its first competitive lease sale for geothermal on federal lands in years, offering parcels in Nevada and Utah; interest was moderate, reflecting that geothermal developers are still relatively few compared to solar/wind developers. Community and environmental concerns around geothermal are generally lower than with fossil fuels, but some projects do face pushback – for example, a geothermal project in Nevada’s Dixie Valley has been litigated due to concerns about impacts on a rare toad species and on nearby hot springs used by tribes. That dispute saw a settlement in 2023 that imposed certain operating conditions to protect the ecosystem, and by 2025 the project was moving forward with those safeguards 111 . Such examples underscore that even renewable projects must consider local environmental and cultural factors.
Technical Advances and Demonstrations (Geothermal): Beyond EGS, another exciting development is super-hot rock geothermal. In 2025, a research collaboration in Idaho successfully drilled into a formation at ~700°F, far hotter than typical geothermal wells, to test new drilling materials and power production techniques. If harnessed, super-hot geothermal could yield an order of magnitude more energy per well. The DOE is bullish on this and is seeking a site for a dedicated super-hot demonstration. Also in 2025, companies began using novel drilling methods from the oil/gas sector for geothermal: “dual-gradient drilling” and better downhole motors, which cut costs. Some oil companies like Chevron and BP increased investment in geothermal startups, seeing it as a natural extension of their subsurface expertise.
In sum, geothermal energy remained a niche but rising player in the U.S. energy landscape in 2025. With supportive federal policy and successful EGS trials, there is renewed optimism that geothermal could scale up beyond the western states. The ability to provide firm, always-on clean power is geothermal’s key value in a grid with lots of intermittent renewables. Analysts project a doubling of geothermal capacity this decade if technology and policy support continue. Meanwhile, the more immediate growth is actually in geothermal heating – from large campus geothermal systems to residential geo heat pumps – quietly helping reduce building emissions.
Siting Controversies: Compared to wind or even solar, geothermal projects have faced relatively few public controversies, mainly because they are site-specific (often in sparsely populated areas) and have a small surface footprint. Nevertheless, 2025 saw one interesting debate: the potential use of oil and gas wells for geothermal. In states like North Dakota and Wyoming, pilot projects are investigating converting depleted oil wells into geothermal heat production for local use. Communities are curious but cautious about reusing wells due to liability and contamination questions. Federal research grants are studying this idea as part of coal/gas community transition – potentially transforming wells into sources of thermal energy for district heating or greenhouses, which could create local jobs and energy. It’s early-stage, but worth noting as an innovative approach to siting geothermal in places not known for it.
Pennsylvania – Solar and Geothermal
Solar in Pennsylvania: Solar energy in Pennsylvania has historically been underutilized relative to the state’s size and electricity demand, but that is gradually changing. By 2025, Pennsylvania’s installed solar capacity reached roughly 1.5–2 GW, a doubling from just a couple years prior 78 . This growth has come largely from large-scale solar farms developed to meet corporate and institutional clean energy goals. Pennsylvania’s Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards (AEPS) currently require only 0.5% of electricity to be from solar (the “solar carve-out”), a target that was met years ago, so state policy hasn’t been a big driver recently. Instead, voluntary market demand and federal incentives have propelled projects. For example, Penn State University’s solar power purchase agreement led to 70 MW of solar arrays in central PA (operational since 2020). In 2025, other universities and companies followed suit: Drexel University and several hospitals formed a consortium to buy from a new 100 MW solar farm under construction in Franklin County. Amazon, a major data center operator, contracted for multiple solar projects in Pennsylvania (totaling ~400 MW) to power its facilities and fulfillment centers – these are expected online by 2026. The business case is aided by the federal ITC and Pennsylvania’s reasonable solar resource, especially in the southern half of the state. Additionally, falling solar costs (utility-scale PPA prices in PJM are now in the 3–4 cents/kWh range) make solar an attractive hedge against fuel price volatility.
Siting and Community Response: Utility-scale solar development in Pennsylvania has seen some local resistance, often centering on land use. Much of PA’s solar growth is occurring on agricultural land, raising concerns about loss of farmland and visual impacts. In 2025, several townships in central PA considered stricter zoning for solar – one county proposed a cap on the acreage of prime farmland that could be converted. The solar industry has responded by engaging communities early and highlighting benefits: lease payments to farmers (often giving a lifeline to family farms), tax revenue for rural school districts, and co-benefits like planting native pollinator habitat under panels. Pennsylvania’s Department of Agriculture even worked with solar developers on agrivoltaic pilot projects – for instance, a small solar array in Lebanon County co-planted with Christmas trees and native flowers to study agricultural integration. Another approach to alleviate siting issues is focusing on brownfields and mine lands. Pennsylvania has many old industrial sites and reclaimed coal mines that are suitable for solar. A case in point: in 2025, groundwork began for a 50 MW solar installation at the former Nanticoke Generating Station site (Luzerne County), a coal plant retired in 2018. This “brightfield” project, supported by state grants, is repurposing coal ash ponds and degraded land for clean energy, drawing broad support. The state government signaled interest in mapping state-owned lands and rights-of-way for solar potential (e.g. along highways or at underutilized state properties).
Incentives and Policy (Solar): While Pennsylvania has not updated its AEPS targets, the state has taken other steps to encourage solar deployment. The PA Solar Future initiative (a plan DEP released in 2018) set an aspirational goal of 10% solar by 2030. To move toward that, DEP in 2025 launched new technical assistance programs for municipalities interested in community solar and for K-12 schools to go solar. Also, the state Treasury reauthorized a low-interest loan program for commercial solar projects (the Keystone Energy Loan Fund). Importantly, Pennsylvania decided to allocate a portion of its federal climate funds (from programs like the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund) to expand solar access in low-income areas – in late 2025, Philadelphia Energy Authority received a $30 million grant to vastly scale up its Solarize Philly program, aiming to put solar on 3,000 low-income homes with no upfront cost. If successful, this could be a model for equitable solar deployment. Another notable development: Pennsylvania’s 2025 budget included a provision exempting commercial solar project equipment from state sales tax, to reduce costs and lure developers (neighboring Ohio and Virginia had similar exemptions, so this was to stay competitive). In the policy realm, net metering remains in place in PA for systems up to 50 kW (with larger systems allowed for certain customer classes). The Public Utility Commission in 2025 decided against imposing additional fees on solar customers (rejecting arguments from some utilities), thus keeping net metering favorable for the time being.
Geothermal in Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania does not have traditional high-temperature geothermal resources for electricity generation – no bubbling geysers or magmatic heat close to the surface – so geothermal power plants are not currently part of the state’s energy mix. However, Pennsylvania has been a leader in geothermal heat pump (GHP) adoption for heating and cooling buildings. The state’s geology (plentiful groundwater and moderate subsurface temperatures) is conducive to eficient ground-source heat pumps. As of 2025, thousands of homes and commercial buildings in PA use geothermal HVAC systems. In fact, Pennsylvania ranks among the top states for installed geothermal heat pump capacity, thanks in part to early incentives from the PA Energy Development Authority and utility rebate programs in the 2000s. With the IRA’s 30% tax credit reinstated for GHPs, interest surged again. Companies that drill water wells have branched into drilling geothermal boreholes, and 2025 saw a strong market especially in suburban and rural areas where new construction could easily incorporate geoexchange loops.
Pennsylvania also has noteworthy district geothermal projects emerging. One innovative example is in West Chester, PA, where the university is working on a geoexchange district heating/cooling loop to serve multiple campus buildings, tapping stable ground temperatures to reduce reliance on natural gas boilers. Another is the Buffalo Creek project in the Pittsburgh area: here, a collaboration between a local township and a startup is using water from an abandoned mine (which emerges at ~60°F year-round) as a heat source for a school and community center via heat pumps. This kind of mine water geothermal is particularly promising in PA’s coal regions – the flooded mines effectively act as geothermal reservoirs. A pilot in Scranton (Lackawanna College) already uses mine water for heating, and DEP is studying maps of mine pools to identify further opportunities to harness them for community heating.
Geothermal Power Potential: While PA lacks conventional geothermal, there is some long-term potential for Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) in the state’s subsurface, which tends to have low permeability but gradients that could be marginally suficient at great depths in parts of the Appalachian Basin. In 2025, as DOE ramped up EGS research, Pennsylvania’s geological survey (DCNR) began collaborating on a project to analyze deep borehole data from natural gas wells to assess temperature profiles and rock characteristics for EGS suitability. The idea is that perhaps one day the expertise and drilling infrastructure from the shale industry could be repurposed to develop engineered geothermal reservoirs a few miles down. This is speculative and not near-term, but the concept is on the radar given the push to find transition opportunities for oil and gas regions. Pennsylvania was invited to participate in DOE’s Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy (FORGE) knowledge-sharing, to see if Appalachian Basin geothermal could complement other energy.
State Support and Outlook (Geothermal): The state government’s stance on geothermal is generally positive as it aligns with both decarbonization and utilizing local workforce skills. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection in 2025 included geothermal heat pumps in its rebate programs for home energy upgrades. And the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission in 2025 was investigating regulatory changes to facilitate geothermal utility loops, which would allow utilities or third parties to own shared ground loop infrastructure that multiple homes could connect to (treating it akin to a utility service). If implemented, this could significantly accelerate neighborhood-scale geothermal in new housing developments.
One challenge is that public awareness of geothermal is lower than solar/wind. To tackle this, Penn State’s Center for Energy held a series of public workshops in 2025 on “Geothermal Opportunities for Pennsylvania,” highlighting case studies like the mine water heating projects and providing homeowners with information on geothermal heat pumps. The workshops, some co-hosted by county agencies, aimed to demystify the technology and emphasize its comfort and eficiency benefits, which can be compelling in a state with cold winters and hot summers.
In summary, Pennsylvania’s solar sector is finally building momentum, primarily through utility-scale projects and institutional buyers, while policy catches up in encouraging broader participation (e.g. low-income solar, potential community solar legislation). Geothermal in PA is not about electricity but about heating and cooling – and in that realm, it’s quietly contributing to the state’s energy transition by cutting building emissions and creating local jobs in installation and maintenance. The intersection of geothermal with PA’s mining legacy is an intriguing development that could turn environmental liabilities (flooded mines) into assets (geothermal reservoirs), aligning with both the state’s resilience and economic goals.
