Clean Energy Is Winning the Build-Out. Now It Has to Win the Story.

Last year, the world added 692 gigawatts of renewable power, a record. Solar alone accounted for 511 gigawatts of it. Renewables made up more than 85 percent of all new power capacity built worldwide, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency. Global investment in the energy transition reached $2.3 trillion, up 8 percent, and exceeded capital spending on fossil fuels, according to BloombergNEF.

The United States tells the same story under more pressure. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed in July 2025, accelerated the phase-out of clean energy tax credits and reset development timelines across the industry. Solar still accounted for 54 percent of all new generating capacity added to the grid last year, the fifth straight year it led. Solar and storage together made up 79 percent. The Energy Information Administration expects a record 86 gigawatts of new utility-scale capacity in 2026, led by 43 gigawatts of solar and 24 gigawatts of battery storage.

These are the numbers of an industry that has become the backbone of new power. Numbers like these do not explain themselves.

That is the central communications challenge in clean energy right now. The work is consequential. Communicating it is just as important. Policy is set, capital is allocated, and projects are approved or blocked based on what decision makers believe, and belief follows what they read and hear. Building is no longer enough. The companies and organizations doing the building have to tell the story, consistently, in public, and at the same pace as the growth itself.

I have worked in clean energy communications for more than 15 years, since the early days of residential solar. The industry has grown enormously since then. Three lessons from that work have held through every cycle.

First, lower your threshold for news. When SolarCity was in its major growth phase during its expansion in the early days of large residential solar, it was a category most people did not understand. We treated nearly every development as a story: a market launch, a hiring push, a financing product, a policy position. Their executive team was willing to spend time with outlets of every size, from the Wall Street Journal and New York Times to local papers and bloggers. Each story was modest. Together they built a public presence that supported sales, recruiting, and the company’s position as a market leader. Today’s industry is building at many times that scale. Every interconnection, hire, and new customer is evidence. Share it.

Second, repeat your message long past the point of boredom. SolarCity’s coverage returned again and again to three ideas: solar is accessible, solar creates jobs, solar benefits communities. Internal teams tire of their talking points long before audiences hear them once. The message you are tired of is the one your audience is just starting to hear. In a year of policy change, consistency matters more, not less. The organizations that hold a clear message through the noise are the ones decision makers remember.

Third, make your data the reference point. The Solar Foundation’s National Solar Jobs Census could have been a routine annual report. Instead, we briefed reporters well ahead of release and set up dozens of embargoed interviews across national business press, trade publications, local TV, and radio. When the census showed 209,000 Americans working in solar in February 2016, dozens of stories ran the same day, President Obama tweeted the findings, and policymakers cited the number for the rest of the year. The industry keeps setting records. Each one is a chance to set the terms of the debate, if someone puts in the work to deliver it.

For leaders in energy and climate tech, the takeaways are practical:

• Build a pipeline of news, not a calendar of announcements. Projects, customers, jobs, and data all count.
• Pick three core messages and hold them for years, not quarters.
• Put your numbers in front of the people who make decisions, and give reporters the runway to cover them well.

Clean energy is winning on the grid. Winning the public debate takes the same persistence. That work belongs to the companies, associations, and leaders doing the building, and the time to do it is while the numbers are this strong.

**Author Bio:**Sam Boykin is the founder and Principal of Boykin Communications, a strategic communications firm for clean energy, sustainability, and climate tech.