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​What's New:

• This week’s Foundations & Frontiers essay covers the incredible silent rise of solar power. Last year, the world surpassed one terawatt of total solar generation, but even more ambitious targets are planned for the years to come. Read the piece for a full breakdown of solar's present state, the history of solar technology, and its bright future.
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• Over at Contrary Research, a new deep dive on New Frontier in Finance plus reports on SeatGeek, Patreon, Hallow, and DoNotPay.

Foundations & Frontiers

The coming decade may prove to be the one that completely changes the global energy landscape away from fossil fuels for the first time since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. Over the past five decades, the US has already installed about 140 gigawatts of solar power generation capacity, enough to supply more than 3% of its energy needs.

If current estimates hold, 600 gigawatts of solar generated-energy may come online by 2030. One gigawatt is about the average energy produced by a nuclear power plant, so by 2030, the United States may be able to add the equivalent of 600 nuclear power plants in clean energy production.

Though the promise of solar power as a sustainable energy source has been touted since the 1970s, progress has been slow in terms of growth in production capacity and decline in cost, leading many to lose faith in solar energy’s potential to have a transformational impact.

But just as it began fading from public attention, over the past handful of years the solar industry has quietly made incredible strides in everything from the cost of production to panel efficiency. The solar industry is expected to undergo exponential expansion in the coming years; the US Department of Energy predicts that 40% of the US’s electric demand could be supplied by solar by the year 2035.

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Further Reading on Solar Power:

• Casey Handmer's deep dive on how the world might change as solar generated energy becomes one of the primary sources of electricity on Earth.
• The National Renewable Energy Laboratory's overview of solar panel manufacturing processes, and a breakdown of solar panel costs.
• A report from the Wall Street Journal exploring whether we might one day beam solar energy from space down to Earth.
• Noah Smith's great overview of developments in solar and battery tech.
• This feature on Caltech's lab focused on conducting artificial photosynthesis to turn solar energy into fuel.
• MIT's report on the future of solar energy.

Contrary Research

Contrary Research publishes thoughtful analysis of the best private technology companies. Here are the latest reports published this week:

​The New Frontier in Finance: The latest Contrary Research deep dive on the evolution of the CFO role and of finance teams by Contrary Principal Megan Kao and Vareto CEO Kat Orekhova.

Patreon: The rise of social media has democratized content creation and consumption, leading to a rapidly expanding digital creative economy. Patreon is a membership platform that enables creators to monetize their work directly via subscriptions from their audience. It allows creators to focus on their creativity without worrying about unpredictable ad revenue or platform policies Read the full report here.

Hallow: Hallow* is a Catholic prayer and meditation app that offers guided meditations, daily readings, and community challenges. It aspires to give people an accessible and convenient way to integrate prayer and meditation into their daily lives, fostering a stronger community and connection among Catholics worldwide. Its mission is to help users deepen their relationship with God through prayer and meditation. Read the full report here.

SeatGeek: SeatGeek is a ticket search engine aggregating listings for live sports, concerts, and theater events. It combines a consumer ticket marketplace with primary ticketing technology. Its products include Deal Score, ticket rating technology; Rally, an event-day operating system; and SeatGeek Swaps, the first return policy offered by a major ticketing platform. Read the full report here.

DoNotPay: DoNotPay helps consumers file disputes and expands access to legal assistance across various issues, from overturning parking tickets to appealing bank fees. It is also applicable to a wide range of use cases including a fake phone verification tool to help users take advantage of free trials and a credit card that allows users to sign up for free trials but closes before the trial period expires and payment is incurred. Read the full report here.

*Contrary is an investor in this company through one or more affiliates.