Biden administration wants solar power to increase tenfold in 15 years

The Energy Department says solar energy can produce up to 40% of the nation's electricity within 15 years — a 10-fold increase of current solar output that would require massive changes in U.S. policy and billions of dollars in federal investment.

In a report released Wednesday, the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy found the U.S. needs to double the solar capacity it adds every year in the early 2020s, and quadruple it in the late 2020, as it moves to address the existential threat posed by climate change. Reaching that level of decarbonization would be "a monumental achievement" requiring new policies and billions in federal funds. It would also save trillions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of lives by slowing climate change and reducing the detrimental health effects of air pollution, the report found.