US Democrats’ televised debate: solar, storage and cost of the climate crisis

September 6, 2019
LinkedIn
Twitter
Reddit
Facebook
Email
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders proposed ‘StorageShot’, based on the Obama administration’s SunShot R&D initiative to bring down the cost of solar. Image: Flickr user Gage Skidmore.

On Wednesday, the ten Democratic presidential hopefuls discussed their environment and energy priorities during a televised town hall meeting in New York City.

Some candidates, like Cory Booker, specifically unveiled their climate change agendas ahead of the marathon seven-hour event.

But how do solar, energy storage, electricity and renewable promises compare across the top-polling candidates? Our sister site PV Tech has analysed their platforms to find out.

Joe Biden

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Enjoy 12 months of exclusive analysis

Not ready to commit yet?
  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Annual digital subscription to the PV Tech Power journal
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

Poll frontrunner Joe Biden backs net-zero emissions by 2050, bolstered by US$1.7 trillion of federal funding over 10 years. In addition, his government intends to secure additional private sector, state and local investments to bring the total up to more than US$5 trillion.

The former vice-president wants to invest US$400 billion – or “twice the investment of the Apollo program which put a man on the moon, in today’s dollars” – in clean energy and climate research, and establish “targeted programs” that would develop renewables on federal lands and waters. Biden has a goal of doubling offshore wind by 2030.

In addition, a Biden presidency would establish a new government-wide clean energy export and climate investment initiative. The scheme would promote American clean energy exports and investments around the world and offer incentives for US firms that supply low-carbon solutions to the international market.

To read how all the candidates fared at the post-Jay Inslee-drops-out watershed event hosted by CNN, visit PV Tech for the full version of this story.

Read Next

October 29, 2025
IPPs Greenvolt and European Energy have finalised financial deals for solar-plus-storage projects in Denmark and Latvia, while Olana and Energix have enlisted optimisers for BESS projects in Lithuania and Poland, respectively.
October 29, 2025
Daiwa Energy & Infrastructure (DEI), an asset manager backed by investment bank Daiwa Securities, has invested in a large-scale battery storage project in northern Japan.
October 29, 2025
“The energy transition is not a pipe dream. It’s here and it’s happening right now,” declared Jackie Trad, the newly appointed CEO of the Clean Energy Council, at the start of All-Energy Australia 2025 in Melbourne this morning (29 October).
October 28, 2025
Eos announced its move to Pennsylvania, US, as well as agreements for energy storage projects with Talen Energy and MN8 Energy.
October 24, 2025
Energy Vault has acquired a 150MW battery energy storage system (BESS) in Texas. Meanwhile, Jupiter Power has entered an agreement with Austin Energy to provide 100MW of electricity from a BESS facility.

Most Popular

Email Newsletter