Cheap, abundant, affordable energy that is emission-free during generation; it would seem that the climate crisis is solved. But there is a problem, or rather two. Consumers want access to power at night, and grids operate on a “merit order,” where energy is paid at the price necessary to attract the marginal supplier. When there is a lot of solar on the grid, mid-day prices can drop to zero or even below. In recent months, solar-rich grids such as those in Spain, Portugal, Germany, France, California and Texas have all experienced negative electricity prices. As solar generation increases, other markets could follow suit, limiting the potential profits of further solar investments.
But there are ways to overcome these limitations, such buy phone number list as long-distance connections, storage (especially batteries), increased demand, and the innovation that low prices usually stimulate. Long-distance connections allow sunny places to power darker ones. For example, England could be powered by solar panels in Morocco, and New England could be powered by Nevada afternoons. Although building this infrastructure takes time and money, when energy is abundant and cheap, connections make sense.
Batteries allow electricity to be moved through time rather than space: Power generated at midday, when prices are low, can be sold when the sun goes down and prices rise. Like solar cells, batteries can be produced at scale, and China is accelerating their development. According to the Rocky Mountain Institute, the cost of battery storage has fallen 99 percent in the past 30 years.
In California, for example, negative solar prices first occurred in 2017, when about 19 GW of solar was installed. Since then, solar capacity has more than doubled, helped by 10 GW of battery storage capacity. Batteries have recently become the largest source of energy for the California grid during the evening hours. In Texas, battery operators generated $532 million in revenue in 2023.