Wind and solar generated more power than gas globally in April 2026 • Hacker News Board

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

#401

Post by foxyv » Tue, Jun 09, 2026, 4:17 PM UTC

vince14 wrote: post #297

foxyv wrote: post #276

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is not entirely correct. Typically you will see LCOE for Solar grouped with the LCOE of Solar and energy storage. EG: > Solar photovoltaic $1,327 $1,333–2,743 $31–146 12–30% > Solar PV with storage $1,748 $2,044 $53–81 20–31% https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cost_of_electricity_by_source#...

> and energy storage What do you think this means? It doesn't mean what you think it means. Quoting LCOE and ignoring system costs disqualifies you for any discussion on this topic, sorry.

I am not aware of a "System" line item on the accounting for cost. Do you mean the capital put forward to construct the system? That is included in LCOE.

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

#402

Post by nonethewiser » Tue, Jun 09, 2026, 4:46 PM UTC

bryanlarsen wrote: post #392

nonethewiser wrote: post #390

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, solar is a reason for both of these: 1. California wholesale prices are the lowest in the country 2. California consumer prices are the highest in the country That's no coincidence. Solar credits in 1 and debits in 2, so to speak. One reason wholesale electricity prices are so low is because there is an excess in solar. Rates go negative midday when demand is lower. That really brings down the average. But…

The load weighted price would be lower. If they averaged across 24 hours, but load is higher in the daytime when the prices are lower. > The high transmission and delivery costs, which you identified as the reason for the disconnect, is partially the function of so much solar generation That correlation is very low. All new supply requires new grid connections, but that's the same whether it is natgas or solar. And g…

It's not my graph. It's the U.S. Energy Information Administration. There is no more official source.

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

#403

Post by nonethewiser » Tue, Jun 09, 2026, 4:47 PM UTC

epistasis wrote: post #398

nonethewiser wrote: post #391

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Solar is a contributing factor in the grid costs though. You cant say solar generation makes wholesale prices cheaper then completely exclude how an oversupply of solar and tons of curtailment drives grid costs up.

No it really isn't much of a contributor to the current grid costs, which are nearly all maintenance and mismanagent. Especially residential solar, which greatly lessens the need for distribution and transmission max capacity, therefore T&D costs, yet this is an area where the utility has been able to present very biased analyses that snow the regulators, because anything that lessens T&D need means that the utility…

It is a major factor. There is ton of curtailment which they are trying to address.

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

#404

Post by foxyv » Tue, Jun 09, 2026, 9:57 PM UTC

DanielHB wrote: post #369

foxyv wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Solar/wind is the cheapest form of power generation by far. You just can't beat it because they don't have any fuel costs. Gas peaker plants will always make sense until we have enough grid scale batteries. They will hold on for now until the price of natural gas hits rock bottom. But with the current advances in low cost battery technology I see them becoming less and less necessary. They would probably already be d…

Most places have a very different mix of electricity sources, things like hydro and imports from places further to the east (where the sun is still shinning) or wind from west-ward. Nuclear provides the same base power all around the day, etc. The need for peaker plants to offset the need for batteries is greatly exaggerated. The batteries are mostly required for grid frequency stabilization due to renewal intermitte…

In America it is a little different. Unfortunately California is still using 48% natural gas at this point. But they are moving in the right direction. Most states are continuing this trend. Driving in Texas you see wide load trucks hauling wind turbine parts almost every day.

https://www.energy.ca.gov/data-reports/energy-almanac/califo...

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

#405

Post by scope2093 » Wed, Jun 10, 2026, 6:55 AM UTC

dzhiurgis wrote: post #397

scope2093 wrote: post #352

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, indeed, once I saw the math/price, it seemed like a no-brainer to just install it. Anedoctal, of course, the rumour is a few (small-ish) companies here offer their complete services abroad in EU (at least to Germany to my knowledge), which makes it very cheap to install, but I did not interact with said companies. I have friends in Germany and their solar (similar to ours, no batteries) installation cost more th…

Missing gst.

My bad, indeed, for the inverter and for the batteries I missed the gst. I still believe it's good value, even with the added tax.