It's more appropriate to call it "Solarhope"
To state the obvious, others disagree. Here's how the "manifesto" page linked from the OP [1] puts it:
> The “punk” in Solarpunk is about rebellion, counterculture, post-capitalism, decolonialism and enthusiasm. It is about going in a different direction than the mainstream, which is increasingly going in a scary direction
One thing to bear in mind is that the series begins with stories that are very optimistic (some would say naively so), but the themes increasingly became darker as the authors aged.
Judging from the behavior of the current brigade of people taking part -at least in theory- of many of those movements, I would say the opposite, that is the scary part. A new-inquisition in which your sins are going against the current orthodoxy of social justice and similar movements. Now, that is the kind of book I would read, also to be honest many works have been produced in that vein, like Harrison Bergeron, form 1961!
It is also ironic, that most of the people exposing this movement, are esentially white WEIRD , a tiny sliver of the world population to whom also belong most of the dominant class.
That may be true, but we need to start somewhere. Actually we need to start lots of places, but a movement coming from amongst the most priveliged is a really good sign if you think about it. At least as long as they don't overimpose their view on the less fortunate.
Solarpunk and Afrofuturism, seem like great evolutions of Cyberpunk and I was really happy to discover them. However, much like back in 1988 when I couldn't find enough Cyberpunk to suit my wants, I've not found a whole lot of deliberate and well fashioned Solarpunk stuff.
I did find this and it seems like a good place to begin:
But the devil is in the details. IMO, execution trumps trope.
Her works are the best place to start
I'm not exactly sure what this comparison means, but isn't Future Boy Conan set on a post-apocalyptic world where young boys are left to fight ruthless mecha-criminal gangs by themselves?
"If Cyberpunk rebelled against post-war optimism, Solarpunk rebels against today’s structural pessimism. Only around since 2015, Solarpunk creates bright, beautiful worlds with rich atmospheres. Solarpunk’s aesthetic draws inspiration from Art Noveau and artists like Studio Ghibli’s Hayao Miyazaki. If Hayao Miyazaki’s Future Boy Conan is Solarpunk’s Alphaville, Beasts of The Southern Wild is Solarpunk’s Shockwave Rider."