From 4% to 45%: Biden Offers Ambitious Blueprint for Solar Energy

The Energy Department analysis provides only a broad outline, and many of the details will be decided by congressional lawmakers.

The Biden administration on Wednesday released a plan to produce almost half of the nation’s electricity from the sun by 2050 — something that would require the country to double the amount of solar energy installed every year over the next four years and then double it again by 2030. The expansion of solar energy is part of President Biden’s effort to fight climate change, but the new target would represent a huge leap with little historical precedent — solar energy contributed less than 4 percent of the country’s electricity last year. Such a large increase, laid out in an Energy Department report, is in line with what most climate scientists say is needed to stave off the worst effects of global warming. It would require a vast transformation in technology, the energy industry and the way people live.