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.

[microgood]

Even the smaller units can handle that with ease.

From AI:

"As more intermittent renewable sources like wind and solar power are integrated into the grid, which don't inherently provide inertia, the importance of inertia from conventional generators is increasing. This is because intermittent sources can cause rapid changes in power output, making inertia even more crucial for maintaining grid stability. "

[cableguymn]

when do people charge their EVs at home?
what have they wanted everyone to buy?

[cableguymn]

robots

[cp124]

And Chinese spying will increase as well.

[TexasGator]

Stay on topic

[clearcarbon]

"Solar Power Set to Surpass Nuclear Generation This Summer"

How does solar compare to nuclear in power produced per square foot of generating installation?

[cableguymn]

so why are old wells refilling themselves?

[cp124]

It will give the lawyers someone to sue with all the new EPA Super Fund sites.

[microgood]

Ok, battery backups are not a scalable solution. When introduced to the equation, the price of solar and wind go through the roof. It is estimated it would take 20 trillion dollars to back up the entire US grid with batteries, which by the way, do not respond well to instantaneous changes in load.

In summary, you need reliable and Practical solutions for the inertia problem that batteries cannot provide.

[TexasGator]

“Ok, battery backups are not a scalable solution. “

Battery storage units are absolutely scalable.

Thet are also distributable.

[TexasGator]

“It is estimated it would take 20 trillion dollars to back up the entire US grid with batteries, which by the way, do not respond well to instantaneous changes in load.”

Quit digging. Your hole is collapsing in on you.

You don’t need 100% backup.

Batteries respond faster to load changes than conventional sources.

[microgood]

Quit digging. Your hole is collapsing in on you.

LOL, you know very little about electrical power grids, at least on a large scale. For your house, though, it might work.

[GingisK]

...and this fall will be back down to nearly nothing.

It would be a different story if they were building new nuclear facilities and maintaining the old ones.

[Moltke]

Ask the Spanish, Portugese, and French how they liked the blackout due to uncontrollable solar input into the grid a few weeks ago. Solar doesn’t help, it disrupts.

[Moltke]

Nuclear energy requires finding nuclear materials. I do not how much of that supply is available and how long it will last. My gut feeling is longer than oil & gas & coal will last.

The thorium supply is said to be good for many, many millenia to come. And they keep finding more.

[Blueflag]

That’s awesome!

[Ronaldus Magnus III]

I just became curious about sunshine on Germany. Germany’s Wizards of Smart turned off all of their electricity generated with nuclear power. The economic powerhouse of Europe is no more.

I found a website with the average MONTHLY hours of sunshine in Germany.

November 53
December 38
January 44
February 44
March 72

If you plan to visit Germany, you may not want to fur these months.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/982758/average-sunshine-hours-germany/

[minnesota_bound]

It does not work at night and very poorly during cloudy days.
It is the reason your electric bills are so high as solar is very expensive.

[hal ogen]

Won’t that be a bunch of laughs when China remotely shuts it down using their recently discovered embedded software? LOL!