Solar ... In the news

Netexporter

Templar Gridwatch will have to get a new solar dial, or the needle will get bent.

G. B. National Grid status

QrizB

Templar Gridwatch will have to get a new solar dial, or the needle will get bent.

I'm sure I remember when "coal" had a big dial on the left of that display and "wind" had a little one on the right.

Now solar has a higher peak output than nuclear (although integrated over the year I think nuclear is still a bigger contributor). Maybe it'll soon be time to swap them over?

A sign of the times.

NedS

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81974671#Comment_81974671

NESO have today confirmed a new peak solar record, set yesterday (23/04/26) of 15,158MW.

And on Wednesday 22/04/2026, we also saw a new record for max zero carbon where the grid was at 98.8% zero carbon.

I use the NESO App which has a tab showing records and notifies when new records have been set.

debitcardmayhem

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81975804#Comment_81975804

As here below

JKenH

Will we soon see the half hour without gas that was supposed to happen last year?

Craig Dyke, NESO’s director of system operations, previously told Carbon Brief that the first-ever period of at least 30 minutes of “zero-carbon operation” was likely to take place this autumn.

Dyke added that NESO was “confident” it could meet the target, which he said would be “absolutely groundbreaking and pretty much world leading”.

Analysis: Great Britain has run on 100% clean power for record 87 hours in 2025 so far - Carbon Brief (29 September 2025)

We know there already is enough renewable capacity to make it happen so I can only assume NESO does not yet have confidence that they have the right assets in place to maintain grid stability. Whatever the cause of the Spanish grid shut down last year it may have moved the political goalposts regarding reputational risk for 100% renewable (including nuclear) generation. If for any reason it did go wrong someone will say “told you so” and it would be a huge setback for public confidence. A gas free half hour might, therefore, potentially still be a long way away: not because it isn’t possible but because the risk to the NetZero project is too great.

ed110220

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81974744#Comment_81974744

Is that site even updated anymore? It feels pretty derelict. Eg the coal dial hasn't been changed since coal was phased out and speaks of gas prices being "currently low". So we're talking of pre war in Ukraine at least

Netexporter

I just like the old steam-punk look of it. A bit of extra dereliction just adds to the effect.

QrizB

Solar in the mainstream news:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cjrp19v9vl2o?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub

"[Solar panels are] all about saving money now, not just sustainability."

Those are the words of the founder of a small solar power firm who sums up the shift in the industry neatly. Ben Harrison's Gloucestershire company has installed 65% more solar panels for businesses since the Iran war started, and energy bills soared.

Across the UK, the total amount of solar power installed has risen 11% compared to last year, according to government figures. For companies, the maths is simple.

In Somerset, the makers of the 'Henry' vacuum cleaner have just spent £1.5m on new solar panels at their Chard factory. The financial director tells me he will get his money back "in less than four years".

More about businesses installing solar PV for good economic reasons at the link.

Martyn1981

Some news / summary on PV panel efficiency.

We see Silicon cell efficiency moving towards 26%-28%. Current common panels (not cells) are probably in the 22%-24% range, so potential for 15%+ more generation from the same given area.

And Silicon/Perovskite tandem cells are just round the corner* (like nuclear fusion 😉 ) and reaching ~34% for cells, ~30% for modules.

*Oxford PV has deployed some tandem PV for a PV farm site in the US, but doesn't expect commercial deployment to take off till 2027.

All solar cell efficiencies at a glance – updated

Martyn1981

This report from Ember is well worth a read. Looks at how firmed solar (PV and storage) is already cheaper than gas in most of the locations where gas use was planned, and all locations by 2030. The report also covers the enormous reduction in oil import expenditure, as these nations switch to EV's, as I'm sure they will.

Firmed solar undercuts most of Asia’s planned gas, and EVs can save over $300 billion a year in oil imports

On the supply side, the report highlights that solar plus batteries can already beat LNG on price at three-quarters of the sites across Asia where new gas capacity is currently planned. It finds that round-the-clock solar-plus-battery power now costs less than $100/megawatt-hour (MWh) in most of Asia. With the capital cost of solar already below that of new fossil capacity even before any fuel is bought, the report projects that solar plus batteries will outcompete LNG everywhere in Asia by 2030.

On the demand side, the report identifies road transport as the key lever for driving Asia’s electrotech switch. Around 80% of the oil Asia uses in road transport is imported, and with electric cars now at purchase price parity with petrol and vehicle ownership across the region set to surge, the report highlights that switching to electric transport will reduce one of Asia’s largest and fastest-growing sources of import dependence.

“Electric vehicles are a strategic necessity,” says Daan Walter, Principal at Ember and the lead author of the report. “Road transport is the single largest source of Asia’s fossil imports, costing over $300 billion a year. Asia could electrify its fleet within twenty years and halve its oil imports. No single lever does more for the region’s balance of payments and energy security.”

The report states that both levers, supply and demand, can be deployed at a speed that fossil infrastructure cannot match. Solar and batteries can be rolled out in days, in increments as small as a few kilowatts, costing a few thousand dollars, whereas a new LNG import chain can take around six years and several billion dollars before delivering its first power. The prices of everyday electric technologies, from cookstoves and air conditioners to two-wheelers and LED lighting, have fallen by between 35% and 90% over the past decade.

The shift would also begin to clean the air for the roughly nine in ten Asians who breathe pollution above World Health Organization limits, while building a commanding position in the electric industries that the rest of the world will be buying for decades.