The summer solstice brings the longest day for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, and this year, that abundant sunshine was estimated to set a record for clean energy. Thanks to the remarkable recent growth in solar power, the world was expected to get roughly a fifth of its total electricity from the sun during the solstice, according to a new report on clean-energy capacity.
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"Our estimate shows that we can expect about 20 percent across midday peaks globally to come from solar on [the] solstice," the report's author, Kostantsa Rangelova, told Newsweek. Rangelova is the global electricity analyst for Ember, a clean-energy think tank based in London.
Ember estimates that close to 90 percent of the world's solar panels are installed in the Northern Hemisphere, and June's long sunlight typically brings the peak of solar production.
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"This year, we're going to have the highest June on record, and this is a really substantial increase from the previous year," Rangelova said. Last year, she said the midday peak of solar power on the solstice made up about 16 percent of the world's electricity. "It is now becoming a serious source of electricity generation on a global scale," she said.
As prices for both solar panels and batteries to store clean energy come down, the global share of electricity coming from solar grows.
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Ember expects total electricity generation from solar to reach a little more than 8 percent for the month, up from 6.7 percent last June. Utility-scale battery storage for solar has also grown dramatically, allowing power providers to better match solar supply to times of high consumer demand.
"Battery storage means that a portion of this electricity from solar can be brought from the midday peak into the evening," Rangelova said.
Her report also showed which countries are getting the most power from solar and how much solar contributes to their total electricity use. China, the world's largest solar market, produces more than a third of global solar generation, but China also has enormous power demands for its homes and industries. The Ember report projects China will get nearly 10 percent of its total electricity needs this month from solar.
The European Union will reap nearly 20 percent of its electricity from the sun this month, according to the report, up from about 17 percent last year. Spain stands out as a global leader on clean energy, Rangelova said, and is expected to get 30 percent of its power from solar this month.
The share of electricity from solar in the U.S. is also climbing and is expected to reach nearly 7 percent this month, up from a little more than 5 percent last June.
The report also identified sun-soaked parts of the world with little solar production, pointing to areas of opportunity for clean energy in developing nations.
"We still have two-thirds of the countries in the world that have less than 5 percent of solar in their generation," Rangelova said. "A lot of these countries are actually the sunniest countries in the world that have huge potential."
Rangelova said additional growth will be needed to hit the renewable energy targets climate scientists say the world must achieve to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels that are warming the planet to dangerous levels.
Under the net-zero energy scenario outlined by the International Energy Agency, for example, global solar production would need to supply 20 percent of electricity year-round by 2030. In other words, the annual average of solar power would have to meet this year's solstice peak.
While a few countries have already reached that year-round level of solar output, the global average is far lower.
"It's 5.5 percent for 2023," Rangelova said. "This means that we need to keep building a lot more solar."
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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