Terawatt Times INSIGHTS
Executive Tier | Series: THE DESERT DIVIDEND (Part 6 of 6) Executive Summary Between 2019 and 2024, the U.S. utility-scale solar industry experienced both unprecedented growth and massive project failures. Of 212 tracked projects exceeding 50MW in the Southwest desert regions, only 31 achieved commercial operation—a 14.6% success
Terawatt Times INSIGHTS
Professional Tier | Series: THE DESERT DIVIDEND (Part 5 of 6) Executive Summary Cheap LCOE no longer guarantees survival in desert solar. The real test is endurance—through policy swings, grid bottlenecks, water scarcity, and the final sale. From two hundred project post-mortems, a pattern emerges: winners nail five factors, losers
Terawatt Times INSIGHTS
Professional Tier | Series: THE DESERT DIVIDEND (Part 4 of 6) Executive Summary Water is not just an O&M line item—it is a covenant with the basin and its people. When developers model it appropriately, water can swing project IRRs by several hundred basis points. This analysis outlines
Terawatt Times INSIGHTS
Professional Tier | Series: THE DESERT DIVIDEND (Part 3 of 6) Executive Summary Desert solar has evolved beyond cheap electricity. A new value stack—energy, reliability, ecology, and data—has emerged as a distinct asset class. Success no longer follows national models or geographic advantages. Instead, it is determined by performance
Terawatt Times INSIGHTS
Professional Tier | Series: THE DESERT DIVIDEND (Part 2 of 6) Executive Summary Solar in deserts extends beyond cheap land and abundant sun. Field operations reveal dynamics that standard financial models rarely capture. Three numbers reshape the economics: 3–6 years for ecological recovery, 10–15% O&M savings from
Terawatt Times INSIGHTS
Public Access | Series: THE DESERT DIVIDEND (Part 1 of 6) Executive Summary Desert solar farms are producing a paradox. Built on fragile land, they can generate measurable ecological shifts: cooler soil, higher moisture, and vegetation recovery. These are not miracles, but straightforward physics playing out at scale. This article deconstructs
BRIEFS
Analysts estimate that every year, until 2050, the world needs to invest around $5 trillion to achieve net zero. Most people see an impossible number. Strategic capital sees an unprecedented economic realignment. Operators see confusion. Founders see red tape. Policymakers see a crisis of competing mandates. We see an operating