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Wind and solar generated more power than gas globally in April 2026

electrek.co

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Re: Wind and solar generated more power than gas globally in April 2026

#281

Post by pstuart »

jrmg wrote: post #254
scope2093 wrote: post #246

We installed roof solar (10kW panels + 8kW hybrid inverter + 32kWh battery + planning/execution) last October for 11k euro. After all the math, our "investment" would pay off in approx 8-10 years (at current electricity prices). That's without an electric car, which we plan to buy sometime in the next two years. All in all, pretty happy. Especially that we have frequent grid faults. Even my ISP has some beefy batteri…

Getting solar installed on our house, providing well over 100% of our energy needs overall (including car), has left me low-key kind of angry that we, as a society, are letting so much energy just uselessly fall onto structures and the ground when we could be harvesting and using it. Especially in the US, and especially in homes, we tend to have dark roofs. Sunlight falls on these, heating the building up, then we bu…

Air conditioning is a substantial load on the grid and those that need it most are likely better suited to solar (more sun to heat, more sun to generate electricity). As you noted, it pays for itself and then is "free".

In a different timeline, we'd be investing in the country via zero/low-interest loans to encourage every homeowner to leverage this. It's a win for everybody.

Re: Wind and solar generated more power than gas globally in April 2026

#282

Post by BobaFloutist »

eldaisfish wrote: post #277
ted_dunning wrote: post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The adoption rate in places like Australia and even Texas is what demonstrates that the argument holds water. People wouldn't be rushing to shift entire markets at the observed rates if the economics were upside down. It is the soundness of the economic model that is driving the adoption even against tariffs and subversion by the current US regime.

How do you explain the fact that the average residential electricity price is higher in Australia than in most of the US? This is not as simple as people here make it out to be. Consider also that solar is profitable today because it does not set the price of electricity in most markets. In a world where solar dominates, the prices of electricity could be negative. The economics of negative electricity prices becomin…

> How do you explain the fact that the average residential electricity price is higher in Australia than in most of the US?

Transmission costs.

Re: Wind and solar generated more power than gas globally in April 2026

#283

Post by hdgvhicv »

anukin wrote: post #213
Aurornis wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t know how you can be against solar unless you’ve been given some uninformed talking points. Are they against solar subsidies or other policy provisions? It’s hard to understand someone who is against passive energy collection.

The argument I have generally heard is consistent power output and grid availability 24x7 with solar is harder. So they augment with gas turbines. IMO augmenting it with nuclear is better.

Why not just nuclear?

Because it’s too expensive so needs peaker plants. Or batteries.

Why not just gas?

Because it’s too expensive.

Re: Wind and solar generated more power than gas globally in April 2026

#284

Post by tonymet »

tootie wrote: post #274
tonymet wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

how much time and money, and whether it’s worth the opportunity cost, is the entire question.

If you're considering the total cost then you have to factor in the entire reason to electrify which is the environmental cost of continuing to burn dead organic matter. In that case, electrification is absolute bargain.

to what end?

Re: Wind and solar generated more power than gas globally in April 2026

#285

Post by andyferris »

amluto wrote: post #273
_whiteCaps_ wrote: post #96

I just upgraded the solar system at my family's off-grid cabin. It's incredible how much battery technology has improved over the last 10 years. Everyone is getting tired of me checking the panel to see how many watts we're bringing in. Next project, install a shunt and get a Raspberry Pi talking to it over USB. And then I'll be able to build a Grafana dashboard. :)

For most purposes, I would avoid the shunt and use a current transformer (for AC) or a DC current sensor (conceptually the same thing but with a Hall effect sensor or other mechanism that works for DC). This way you don’t need anything to touch the potentially rather large voltages on a solar array.

The OP mentioned modern battery technologies - generally the shunt sits between an LFP battery negative and the main circuit negative/ground, and the solar panels connect to MPPTs. So the voltage at the shunt is a nice consistent nominal 12.8V (~13.3V in practice) or a multiple thereof (for series battery setups).

I just upgraded our hybrid caravan to 24V LFP (2x 300Ah 12V), roof solar + extra MPPT for external solar, shunt, inverter-charger, 24V->12V converter for existing circuity (lights, pump, etc), DCDC charger from car, battery balancer, a little touchscreen interface inside (all victron gear with renogy batteries). It was as a lot of fun and it's amazing how much power we have off grid now! The system would work excellent for a little cabin exactly how it is (minus DCDC).

Re: Wind and solar generated more power than gas globally in April 2026

#286

Post by tonymet »

PaulDavisThe1st wrote: post #202
tonymet wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

explain the cost to replace a hop drying kiln with an electrical one, including the grid load.

I'm not going to do that. Electrical heat using heat pumps is cheaper than in-situ heating with any fossil fuel because (a) the base price per unit of energy is (or certainly can be) lower (b) the coefficient of performance is higher. There are obviously costs to changing heating systems. But that doesn't mean that a gas heating system cannot be replaced by an electrical one.

to me, it sounds unreasonable. Let’s say this project was your responsibility, would this argument be enough for your supervisor to approve it?

Re: Wind and solar generated more power than gas globally in April 2026

#287

Post by thrownthatway »

cornstalks wrote: post #268
thrownthatway wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So the most difficult part is using a calculator to determine the charge controller capacity.

No, you also need to calculate the voltage drop over your distance to show to minimum wire sizing, and the voltage and power levels at the ASHRAE minimum temperature, the current level at 156.25% over the wiring at the ASHRAE max temperature to compute the temperature adjusted resistance and show that your wiring meets minimum spec, etc. It’s not too hard to actually do the computations. But there is a ton to learn.…

So the most difficult part is using domain specific online calculators to determine the wiring requirements and charge controller capacity.

Re: Wind and solar generated more power than gas globally in April 2026

#288

Post by ceejayoz »

dimitrios1 wrote: post #79
Aurornis wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t know how you can be against solar unless you’ve been given some uninformed talking points. Are they against solar subsidies or other policy provisions? It’s hard to understand someone who is against passive energy collection.

I am against it for one reason only, but it's very solvable, IMO, and it's the amount of space they take up. I live next to 200+ acres of solar farms. A part of me cries a little when I see so much beautiful land and trees cut down and these lifeless panels taking up so much space. We have so many buildings, and structures already (think parking decks, tops of apartments, homes, offices, even parking lots) that we co…

> use up perfectly usable farmland

It's still farmland! They're just farming energy now.

Re: Wind and solar generated more power than gas globally in April 2026

#290

Post by laurencerowe »

anukin wrote: post #213
Aurornis wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t know how you can be against solar unless you’ve been given some uninformed talking points. Are they against solar subsidies or other policy provisions? It’s hard to understand someone who is against passive energy collection.

The argument I have generally heard is consistent power output and grid availability 24x7 with solar is harder. So they augment with gas turbines. IMO augmenting it with nuclear is better.

Augmenting intermittent renewables with nuclear doesn’t really make sense since nuclear is all fixed costs whereas gas generation is mostly fuel costs which makes it economic to run part of the time.
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