Solar Power Set to Surpass Nuclear Generation This Summer

OilPrice.com ^ | May 21, 2025 | Tsvetana Paraskova

[BeauBo]

This summer, solar power generation globally could exceed electricity from nuclear power plants for the first time ever, as solar capacity soars and sunlight and daylight hours are long in the northern hemisphere.

Global solar power generation jumped by 34% in the first quarter of 2025 from the same period in 2024, according to data from Ember cited by Reuters columnist Gavin Maguire.

If the pace of growth is sustained though June, July, and August, solar output is set to top 260 terawatt hours (TWh) in the summer months. This would beat the average 223 TWh of global nuclear power generation from 2024, Maguire notes.

Last year, record growth in renewables led by solar helped push clean power above 40% of global electricity in 2024, Ember said in its Global Electricity Review 2025 last month. However, heatwave-related demand spikes led to a small increase in fossil generation, too, the clean energy think tank said.

“Solar generation has maintained its high growth rate, doubling in the last three years, and adding more electricity than any other source over that period,” Ember’s analysts wrote in the report.

More than half, or 53%, of the increase in solar generation in 2024 was in China.

[Ronaldus Magnus III]

Besides nuclear power generation, which is a great idea, we have only drilled a few miles into the Earth. There are thousands of years of hydrocarbons under our feet.

[Bobbyvotes]

Solar power works well in places like Arizona & Florida. But some states have long winters with cloudy days. I lived in Washington State from 1999 through 2016. We hardly saw sunny days from November through April. Which then would require electricity imported from long distance. That requires infrastructure and power loss in long distance power lines.

[Bobbyvotes]

Which brave souls will work in coal mines 20 miles deep?

[dfwgator]

Lord, I’m so tired
How long can this go on?

[Paladin2]

I have hardware to do 0.8 kW solar input, some battery storage and a few [more or less true] Sine Wave inverters.

It’s only for grid power outage circumstances and some experience gaining fooling around with the tech.

I, for one, am in favor of the majority of my power coming from a coal mine mouth power plant but a couple of hundred miles away.

I’d rather have a Mr. Fusion or some number of relatively local, small thorium [or similar] nuke plants.

[When I wuz a kid in the 50s, I was promised unmetered Nuke power....]

[Fledermaus]

Oh please. Doom and gloomers have been selling that for decades.

We were supposed to be out of oil 40 years ago.

[brent13a]

Eventually oil, coal & natural gas stockpiles will be used up. These resources are not renewed by nature for millions of years. At that time, 200 to 400 years from now, solar power will be a major source.

What an interestingly and painfully narrow and obtuse understanding of reality this is. My guess is you've been "awakened" to a retarded subjective reality, making you feel superior to everyone else.

[Fledermaus]

Robots

[zeestephen]

Re: "Solar electricity jumped by 34% in the first quarter of 2025..."

Winter sun shine - weak low angle, plus long nights, in the Northern Hemisphere, where most of the people who need 24-7 heaters live.

Too bad you have to wear a winter coat inside your dark house for 14 hours a day.

[Bobbyvotes]

Easily extractable oil is already in short supply in USA. Thanks to discovery of fracking we have more supply.

Oil is not a renewable fuel source.

[Vaduz]

Check
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[Bobbyvotes]

Robots need maintenance. Good luck finding technicians willing to work in extremely deep mines.

[Bobbyvotes]

We are out of easily extractable oil. Thanks to invention of fracking, we have more oil available.

[Fledermaus]

Robot technichians

[brent13a]

Robots need maintenance. Good luck finding technicians willing to work in extremely deep mines.

Lmaooooooooo because there are zero people working deep in mines now.

Seriously your low-ordered "logic" is beyond stunted.

[Fledermaus]

No. They just don’t let them drill where it would be easily removed. Like Alaska.

[Paladin2]

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/comfy-bedrooms—3518505953404780/

[brent13a]

Which brave souls will work in coal mines 20 miles deep?

My guy, you have zero understanding of geology, fossil fuels, or anything within their orbit.

[Carry_Okie]

It’s still not baseload generating capacity.

[brent13a]

We are out of easily extractable oil. Thanks to invention of fracking, we have more oil available.

I bet you're the smartest person on the fossil fuel reddits Lmaoooo

You're critical reasoning skills are nil but that would make you a god-king on reddit.