Clean energy manufacturing

Batteries

A pioneering grid-battery factory is headed for this California city

Sodium-ion batteries promise cheaper, more durable energy storage. Peak Energy seeks to kick-start the next-gen battery market by building the first big U.S. plant.

By Julian Spector . 10 July 2026

Stage with speaker and others seated with a large US flag behind them and rows of people seated on a gleaming floor — Emily Desai, chief deputy director of the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, speaks at Peak Energy’s new Sacramento, California, factory, which will be equipped with machinery to start production in early 2027. (Peak Energy)

Electrification

Southern California clean-heat rule survives key legal challenge

A U.S. appeals court upheld the first-in-the-nation measure, which will slash smog-forming emissions from certain gas-fueled boilers and heaters in the region.

By Maria Gallucci . 8 July 2026
Electric vehicles

Electric trucks look a lot more appealing when gas prices are sky-high

A head-to-head matchup of electric and gasoline cargo trucks shows how rising fuel costs make EVs much cheaper to run. Now, can manufacturers lower up-front costs?

By Jeff St. John . 2 July 2026
Solar

New Qcells plant doubles current US capacity to make solar cells

The company’s Cartersville, Georgia, factory is the largest of its kind in the nation — and it just started producing the key solar panel component.

By Julian Spector . 9 June 2026
Energy storage

The hidden innovation behind Antora’s massive new heat battery

The startup is turning on a 200-battery project in South Dakota — and pioneering an electric utility rate that could help boost thermal energy storage more widely.

By Maria Gallucci . 27 May 2026
Green steel

US Steel to build $2B lower-carbon iron plant in Arkansas

The new "direct reduced iron" facility at Big River Steel is part of parent company Nippon Steel’s larger $11 billion investment in U.S. operations.

By Maria Gallucci . 30 April 2026
Clean aluminum

America’s big new aluminum smelter is still waiting on a power deal

Global supply shocks spurred by the Iran war are bolstering the case for domestic production. But the plant still hasn’t secured its electricity supply.

By Maria Gallucci . 30 April 2026
Solar

Are long-promised solar perovskites finally hitting mass production?

Tandem PV has built an automated factory line in California to produce glass coated with materials that it says can improve solar panel efficiency by one-third.

By Julian Spector . 20 April 2026
Clean energy manufacturing

China exports a ton of cleantech — and the world is poised to want more

The nation’s battery and EV exports in particular have grown in recent years. Now, the Middle East war could spur even more demand for Chinese clean-energy tech.

By Dan McCarthy . 17 April 2026
Green steel

Stegra lands funding to complete world’s first major green-steel mill

The company said it secured 1.4 billion euros to rescue its financially troubled steel mill, which will use green hydrogen to make metal in northern Sweden.

By Maria Gallucci . 14 April 2026
Clean energy manufacturing

Suddenly, the US manufactures a ton of grid batteries

Energy storage is surging on the U.S. grid — and now the country has more than enough battery-making factories to meet that booming demand.

By Julian Spector . 23 March 2026