For years, the day in Kulak ended when the generator powered down. Like thousands of villages across Iraq, this small farming community in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region lived to the faltering rhythm of an erratic power supply: a few hours of electricity, then the water pumps stopped, refrigerators warmed and children put down their books.
Today, Kulak runs on the sun. Solar panels harness its energy, batteries store the excess and residents have power 24/7. The change is visible beyond the homes: water pumps keep running, and cold storage gives farmers more control over when they sell their harvest.
This is the part of the energy transition the global climate conversation too often overlooks. Solar hardware is cheap; the world has learned how to install it. What matters is what comes after the panels go up: building the local capacity to keep the systems running and using reliable power to support farms, livelihoods and communities.
The energy transition will not be won in conference halls. It will be won, or lost, in places like Kulak.
Iraq’s energy story is usually told as a paradox. It is one of the world’s great oil producers, yet rural communities still endure daily power cuts. Summers now regularly push past 50 degrees, and the United Nations ranks Iraq among the nations most vulnerable to climate change. Drought has emptied farmland. Heat has made whole regions harder to live in. Rural families face a quiet, grinding choice between staying on land that can no longer sustain them or joining the drift towards overcrowded cities.
These pressures do not respect provincial boundaries. They are shared across Iraq, from the marshes of the south to the mountains of the north. They demand responses that work for the whole country.
For remote communities, decentralised power should not simply be treated as a stopgap while they wait for the grid. It can be part of the long-term answer.
Kulak is one of five villages in the Kurdistan region electrified through a solar initiative that pairs new infrastructure with local training and agricultural development. Residents are trained to operate and maintain their own systems, while research is under way into how reliable power can support local production.
Energy is treated not as a gift to be received but as an asset to be managed. That means looking beyond electricity itself to what it can enable: cold storage that allows farmers to hold their harvest for better prices, irrigation that no longer depends on diesel and processing that adds value before crops ever leave the village.
That distinction matters, because the graveyard of development is full of well-intentioned infrastructure. Anyone who has worked in this field has seen the solar array gathering dust because no one was trained to fix an inverter, or the water project abandoned when the foreign NGO moved on.
Sustainability is not a slogan; it is a design choice. Building local capability into a project from day one is the difference between a photo opportunity and a future.
There is a broader argument here for the climate movement.
The energy transition is overwhelmingly narrated from the top down: through COP plenaries, G7 communiques and the financing pledges of wealthy nations, many of them unmet. Yet for hundreds of millions of people in the Global South, the transition will arrive, if it arrives at all, through decentralised solutions built close to the ground.
Rural Iraq will not wait decades for grid expansion to reach every valley. It does not have to. Distributed solar suits these communities better than centralised generation ever did, while local institutions can move at a speed that multilateral programmes rarely match.
There is also a quieter point about who gets to act on climate.
The prevailing image of climate action in the Middle East is the megaproject: vast desert solar farms, futuristic cities and sovereign wealth funds. Those have their place. But electrifying farming villages one by one represents a different kind of ambition, one rooted in the belief that Iraqis themselves, in all their diversity, can build the country’s energy future rather than wait for it to be delivered.
Local involvement matters particularly in places where reliable electricity is tied not only to household comfort but to whether farms can irrigate crops, preserve produce and remain economically viable.
Iraq has thousands of rural communities, and scaling this model will require partners, patient financing and supportive policy at every level of government. The agricultural research is promising but young.
On my last visit to Kulak, I was struck less by the panels than by what surrounded them: the cold store, the working pumps, the sense of a community planning for next season rather than next month.
The lights staying on is the least of it. What has really been switched on is the future tense.
If Iraq’s energy transformation is built like this across the whole country, village by village and from the ground up, it will be more durable than anything imposed from above. That means investing not only in the systems themselves, but in the people who will maintain them and the farms, businesses and livelihoods that reliable power can support.
The world’s climate diplomats could do worse than pay attention.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
AND just like that, the solar eclipse is over… until next year where you can see another in several European destinations.
The solar eclipse will return on August 2 next year, with some European destinations getting a total eclipse, including Spain again.
Alongside Spain, Gibraltar, Tunisia, Morocco and eight other countries will also experience a total solar eclipse.
Meanwhile, the UK will once again see a partial eclipse.
Unlike yesterday’s celestial event, this solar eclipse will take place in the morning in most destinations.
But the hype caused by yesterday’s event is already creating hype for next year’s.
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Gibraltar, for example, you can fly from the UK for between £170 and £190 return, on average.
Looking at flights for next year around the solar eclipse, prices are already rocketing.
If you were to head out on July 29 and return on August 3, direct flights from Manchester will set you back at least £453 return and £739 return from London.
Alter the dates slightly and it is still expensive – flying out on July 30 and returning on August 4 will set you back at least £419 direct from London.
Even if you flew out the day before and then headed home straight after the eclipse, you’ll be set back around £400 for direct flights.
Adele Cooke, Senior Consumer Reporter and Consumer Champion at The Sun, who is from Gibraltar, said: “The next eclipse may still be a year away but Gibraltar is already buzzing with excitement.
“The total eclipse will be visible over Gibraltar and the uninterrupted views over the Strait make it a great place to watch the event.
“The eclipse will be visible for a full four minutes, one of the longest durations of anywhere in the world.
“Friends and family have already booked their flights home to be there on August 2 and prices are already climbing.
“But there’s no need to worry about missing out.
“There are dozens of flights from the UK to Malaga every day, and the Spanish airport is just an hour and a half’s drive from Gibraltar.
“Set up price alerts now so you’ll be notified when prices drop.
Meanwhile, website GibStay.com can help you find affordable accommodation.
“If accommodation in Gibraltar is out of your price range then consider staying in one of the nearby towns and driving down for the event.
“Estepona, Soto Grande and Tarifa are all around an hour’s drive away.
“You could book a villa and make a week of it.
“In August temperatures in southern Spain average between 21 and 28 degrees, while the region gets less than 8mm of rainfall for the entire month.”
For Spain, major cities and locations that will be under the path of totality include Cadiz, Malaga and the coast of Almeria and Granada in southern Spain.
If heading to Cadiz, you’ll need to head to Jerez Airport, which is about a 40-minute drive from the city centre.
Direct return flights for the days around the solar eclipse to Jerez Airport from London are already around £495.
This is still more than the average £170 to £350 return trip to the city usually costs in August.
Malaga seems to be one of the only destinations that hasn’t risen… yet.
Average direct return flights to Malaga from the UK in August usually cost £170 to £270.
There are currently direct flights still available heading out at the end of July and returning on August 3 for £187.
There are currently lots of hotels available for affordable prices too.
You don’t have to go to Spain though, you could fly to Morocco instead for £230 return.
Here’s the full list of countries you could head to where there will be a full solar eclipse on August 2:
Most of these destinations will experience a total eclipse mid morning on August 2.
A partial solar eclipse illuminated Paris’s sky over the city’s iconic Eiffel Tower. Though the eclipse was only partial in France and other parts of Europe, it was total in Greenland, Iceland, and Spain.
Published On 13 Aug 202613 Aug 2026
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Aug. 12 (UPI) — Some 15.2 million people across the world — mostly Europe — live in the path of totality of Wednesday’s solar eclipse.
It marked the first total solar eclipse viewable from Europe since 1999, Space.com reported.
A solar eclipse happens when the moon passes between Earth and the sun, casting a shadow on Earth as it blocks the sun’s rays. In some areas, the phenomenon will be what’s known as a total solar eclipse, in which all but the very outer edges of the sun will be blocked by the moon.
About 12% of the world’s population, or 980 million people, live in areas where they were be able to view the solar eclipse. A much smaller portion, about. 0.2% or 15.2 million people, live in the path of totality.
The vast majority of the world was able to view the eclipse, though, so NASA set up a live stream of the view from multiple cameras in the path of the event.
The eclipse, which got underway around 11:30 a.m. EDT, was expected to be viewable across a chunk of the Northern Hemisphere, including most of western Europe, the very northern reaches of Russia, northwestern Africa, all of Greenland, Iceland and Canada, and the northeastern United States. The path of totality is expected to stretch in an arc from northern Russia, across the North Pole, down the east coast of Greenland and through Iceland, before passing across northern Spain and ending in the Mediterranean Sea.
Spanish Olympic skateboarder Danny León performed a jump as a solar eclipse occurred, timing the trick with the moon passing in front of the sun. León shared the iconic stunt on his social media accounts and called it ‘the move of his life.’
Published On 13 Aug 202613 Aug 2026
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The UK and Europe have enjoyed their most dramatic solar eclipse for nearly 30 years, with millions thought to have witnessed the once-in-a-generation event.
Those watching the astronomical phenomenon from the UK were treated to a partial eclipse which peaked shortly after 19:00 BST, when most saw more than 90% of the Sun covered by the Moon.
But parts of Greenland, Iceland and Spain experienced the complete darkness and spectacle of a total eclipse.
Large crowds at viewing sites across the UK and Europe reacted with gasps and cheers, with astronomy enthusiasts saying it serves as a reminder of how “amazing” the universe is.
The path of the total eclipse began at the northern tip of Siberia in Russia, far away from crowds and telescopes.
But it soon began curving around the Arctic Ocean arriving in Iceland in the early evening before sweeping southwards to treat the UK to part of its wonder
The partial eclipse began at about 18:00 BST in northern Scotland and just before 18:20 on the south coast of England.
It was imperceivable at first, but for those blessed with cloud-free skies, crowds noticed the Moon nibbling away at the Sun.
Europe is gearing up for its first total solar eclipse in 27 years, with millions expected to gather along the path of totality from Iceland to Spain. Scientists are deploying aircraft and observatories to capture the rare event.
Published On 12 Aug 202612 Aug 2026
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THE UK will experience a spectacular solar eclipse tonight – the first of its kind since 1999.
If you’re headed to the coast today, you might want to stick around as some of the country’s beaches will have the best views – just don’t forget your glasses.
Tonight, the UK will experience a partial solar eclipse – and the best places to see the eclipse today are in the west and southwest of the country.
In parts of Devon and Cornwall, the eclipse will cover around 95 per cent of the sun.
If you happen to be there on holiday anyway, head to a west-facing beach to get the full effect – you’ll also get a fabulous sunset over the water too.
Some beaches you might want to bag a spot at in Cornwall include Watergate Bay, Perranporth, Gwynver Beach, Fistral Beach or Sennen Cove.
If you head to Land’s End, there are set to be have incredible views there as well.
In Devon, beaches like Saunton, Woolacombe and Westward Ho will have clear views, or try out Slapton Sands and Thurlestone.
Along the Jurassic Coast top spots include Chesil Beach which is the longest beach in the UK.
Durdle Door is also recommended, although the cliffs above it is where you’ll get the best view – and it’s likely to be busy.
If you want an unobstructed view and are prepared to put in a little hard work, hike up to Golden Cap cliffs between Bridport and Charmouth.
Wales is an ideal spot to watch the eclipse too, in Cardiff, the moon will cover 93.2 per cent of the sun.
With some of the best views being in South Wales, bag a spot on the sands on Rhossili Bay, Three Cliffs Bay and Barafundle Bay.
Further north, the unspoilt coast on the Llŷn Peninsula will have clear skies as will spots in Pembrokeshire like Strumble Head and St Davids.
In Scotland, Machrihanish Bay is likely to have great views as it has low dunes with views across the Atlantic.
In fact, those on the Western Isles of Scotland along the west coast will see between 92 per cent to 94 per cent of the sun obscured.
Any of the beaches around places like Arisaig, Morar and Mallaig will have views of the eclipse – as long as there aren’t clouds in the sky.
In the North of England, Crosby Beach in Sefton is expected to be a busy spot.
Further up the coastline, St Bees has around a mile-long sweep of red sand that faces west looking over the Irish Sea and the Isle of Man.
If you don’t happen to be that side of the UK – try to find a beach that has unobscured views to the west.
You cannot look directly at the eclipse without risking eye damage so make sure to look through specially made glasses.
If you didn’t manage to get a pair, here are seven ways to safely watch the solar eclipse without glasses.
Here are the exact times the eclipse will be most visible in your area and how long it’ll last.
And here are some tips on how to take great photos of the eclipse without damaging your phone, camera or eyes.
TOURISTS in Spain are being urged to be cautious tomorrow when the rare solar eclipse takes place.
Anyone travelling to Spain or within Spain where you will be able to see the full solar eclipse, is being warned that there is a high risk of forest fires.
Six million people are expected to be travelling around the country to see the solar eclipse, across 660 official viewing spots.
And around half a million tourists are expected to travel to Spain for the rare event, with campsites across the country being booked out.
The roads are set to be busier too with around 1.5million journeys expected to be taken in the areas where you can see the eclipse fully.
According to The Olive Press, in Aragon for example, the eclipse will be fully visible and around 15,000 people are expected to camp the night in four spots in the area.
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In fact, around 70 per cent of Spain’s rental motorhomes, camper vans and caravans have already been booked for the eclipse period.
As a result, several regions are on high alert of wildfires while the solar eclipse takes place, especially as temperatures are expected to reach 40C in parts of Spain tomorrow.
Authorities are warning that the countryside is particularly at risk, warning tourists and locals to not light fires and park on dry grass.
People are also not allowed to park on hard shoulders, have barbeques or have fireworks.
As a precaution, the natural parks and rural footpaths in the Valencia region have all been closed too.
Spots like Madrid, Zaragoza, Bilbao and Valencia will see a 99.9 per cent eclipse.
According to The Guardian, environment minister, Sara Aagesen, said: “The vegetation is extraordinarily dry and the smallest spark or carelessness could lead to devastating forest fires.”
The path of totality crosses the western part of Iceland and they hope to find a spot in the Westfjords peninsula to witness it.
Although they’ve heard rumours of roads being closed to stop too many people overwhelming the area, so are keen to get there a couple of days before the spectacle.
Samantha, who her husband describes as an “obsessive travel planner”, is all over the Facebook groups and social media pages being used by eclipse hunters to share information and advice.
She’s expecting a good turnout given the number of eclipse glasses she’s seen people with in Iceland. “They’re really trying to prepare everybody,” she says.
“What I expect, as we start inching westward, is we’re going to see more and more of them.”
Andrew Wills is also going to an island to see the eclipse, albeit a much warmer one: Majorca.
He’s travelling with his wife and his dad, who is 90. Father and son witnessed Europe’s last total solar eclipse together in 1999 while stood atop St Agnes Beacon in Cornwall.
The landmark, believed by some to be a Bronze Age bowl barrow, offers panoramic views across the Cornish countryside and out to the Atlantic. It was a cloudy day, remembers Andrew.
“We didn’t see the shadow rushing across the sea towards us, though we did see the dawn appearing and it getting closer very quickly,” he says. “It was awe-inspiring.”
bombermoon/iStock via Getty Images
Sunrun (RUN) is piloting a program that would allow customers to earn hundreds of dollars per month by using electricity from rooftop solar installations to power home-computing systems for artificial intelligence, CEO Mary Powell said Monday.
The company is in
Atlas Energy Park, a solar and energy storage complex Qcells is building in Arizona. Photo courtesy of Qcells
July 10 (Asia Today) — Qcells is accelerating its push into the North American renewable energy market as investment in power infrastructure grows rapidly amid the expansion of artificial intelligence data centers in the United States.
The Hanwha unit said Friday it will handle engineering, procurement and construction for Atlas Energy Park, one of the largest solar and energy storage complexes in the United States. The project will be built in La Paz County, Ariz.
Atlas Energy Park will include 2.8 gigawatts of solar generation capacity and 5.7 gigawatt-hours of energy storage capacity by 2028. The complex will consist of 14 solar and energy storage projects and cover an area about 22 times the size of Yeouido, Seoul’s main financial district.
Qcells will handle engineering, procurement and construction for all projects in the complex and supply all solar modules.
The company completed the sale in May of two solar power plants with a combined capacity of 357 megawatts after carrying out their early-stage development and construction. The deal is seen as evidence that Qcells has expanded beyond equipment supply into project development, construction and asset sales.
The company’s competitiveness is backed by its U.S. supply chain. Qcells operates Solar Hub, a solar manufacturing complex in Georgia, giving it module supply capacity. It has also built a supply chain for energy storage equipment.
Industry analysts say companies with U.S. production bases are gaining a stronger advantage as Washington expands policies favoring domestically made equipment.
Analysts also expect Qcells’ expansion in North America to help improve earnings. Hana Securities projected Hanwha Solutions’ second-quarter operating profit this year at 230.7 billion won, about $153 million, roughly 29% above market consensus.
“The oversupply of solar modules in the United States is easing, and prices are continuing to rise, while the expansion of local production capacity in the United States will drive earnings improvement,” said Yoon Jae-sung, an analyst at Hana Securities.
Analysts say AI will further accelerate growth in renewable energy demand.
“Power demand is structurally increasing because of AI data centers, electrification and manufacturing reshoring, making solar power and energy storage key pillars of global power infrastructure,” said Han Byung-hwa, an analyst at Eugene Investment & Securities. “In particular, rising power consumption by AI data centers will continue to increase demand for large-scale projects combining solar power and energy storage.”
Qcells has completed or is pursuing more than 11 gigawatts of solar and more than 6 gigawatt-hours of energy storage projects in North America, expanding its local business base.
“Atlas Energy Park is a symbolic project that once again demonstrates Qcells’ EPC capability, U.S. supply chain and comprehensive business capacity from development to construction and asset sales,” said Chris Hodrick, head of Qcells’ EPC business division.
“We will lead the growth of the North American renewable energy market by increasing customer value and business competitiveness through integrated solutions that combine solar power and energy storage,” Hodrick said.
— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI
© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.
Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260710010003926
Solar panels stand at the Anjwa Solar City power plant in Shinan County, South Jeolla Province, on Friday. The county distributes part of the project’s profits to residents through local cooperatives under its Sunlight Pension program. Photo by Asia Today
June 15 (Asia Today) — Salt-damaged farmland once unsuitable for either agriculture or aquaculture has become a source of pension income for residents of islands in southwestern South Korea.
Shinan County in South Jeolla Province operates what it calls a “Sunlight Pension,” sharing part of the profits from solar power projects with local residents. The program is regarded as a social economy model that connects large-scale renewable energy infrastructure with household income and local spending.
The county began distributing the pension on Anjwa and Jara islands in 2021 under a renewable energy profit-sharing program. It has since expanded the program to Jido, Saokdo, Imjado and Bigeumdo.
Under the program, part of the profits generated by solar power projects is distributed to residents through local cooperatives.
South Korea’s Ministry of the Interior and Safety regards the Shinan program as a social economy model that converts local resources into resident income while keeping spending within the community. The program brings residents, local government and private businesses together to ensure that some profits from power generation remain in the region.
The model is also consistent with the national government’s initiative to create “Sunlight Income Villages,” where communities receive income from renewable energy projects.
Shinan County enacted an ordinance in 2018 establishing a system to share profits from renewable energy development with residents. Residents do not directly pay the cost of building the power plants. Instead, resident cooperatives participate in the projects and receive dividends from the resulting revenue.
The dividends are paid through local gift certificates, encouraging recipients to spend the money within Shinan County.
“Existing residents are guaranteed dividend benefits, while benefits for new residents vary according to age to encourage younger people to move here,” a county official said. “New residents age 40 or younger are eligible immediately, without a waiting period.”
The program has produced measurable results.
Renewable energy development dividends generated cumulative revenue of 24.71 billion won, or about $16.1 million, between April 2021 and April 2025. Of that amount, 22.32 billion won, or about $14.6 million, was distributed through the Sunlight Pension.
An additional 2.39 billion won, or about $1.6 million, was distributed as a Sunlight Child Allowance for residents younger than 18.
Of Shinan County’s 16,483 residents, 13,284 are members of participating cooperatives, representing a participation rate of 81%.
The Anjwa Solar City power plant serves as the foundation of Shinan’s Sunlight Pension model.
The facility has a combined generating capacity of 288 megawatts, consisting of a 96-megawatt first phase and a 192-megawatt second phase. The first phase began commercial operations in November 2020, followed by the second phase in January 2023.
Plant officials said the project cost about 560 billion won, or approximately $366 million. It generates annual revenue of between 80 billion won and 85 billion won, or roughly $52.3 million to $55.6 million.
The history of the site is also significant.
The land was originally used for farming but became unsuitable for both agriculture and aquaculture because of salt damage and years of use as fish farms. A 2019 revision to South Korea’s Farmland Act allowed salt-damaged farmland to be used temporarily for other purposes, clearing the way for the solar project.
The land is scheduled to be restored to farmland after the solar facilities cease operations.
Anjwa Solar City is considered a leading example of South Korea’s resident-participation renewable energy profit-sharing system. Large solar projects can generate local opposition when residents receive few tangible benefits, making the profit-sharing structure a central element in securing community acceptance.
The Shinan model, however, may be difficult to reproduce in every region. Large renewable energy projects require several conditions, including government approval, resident consent and access to transmission infrastructure.
Project profitability and local acceptance must also be considered to maintain a stable dividend system.
“The Sunlight Pension was designed to ensure that development profits remain with residents and circulate within the community,” the county official said. “We plan to expand the profit-sharing program beyond solar power to offshore wind and other renewable energy projects.”
— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI
© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.
Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260615010005065
