Solar covered a fifth of EU electricity for three straight months

Fraunhofer data puts solar at 20.3–21.5% of EU power demand across May–July, a first — with Latvia reaching 49% in June.

Solar supplied more than 20% of electricity demand across the 27 EU member states in May, June, and July — the first time it has held that level for three consecutive months, according to Energy-Charts data compiled by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE. The monthly shares were 20.3%, 21.1%, and 21.5%; in the same months a year earlier, solar ranged between 17.3% and 18.8%.

The country-level data is a wall of records. Germany stayed above 30% for all three months, with a preliminary 31.6% in July against 22.6% the July before. Switzerland held above 25% for the first time over a three-month stretch. Latvia posted the highest share ever recorded in the EU — 49% of demand in June, up from under 19% a year earlier — with Lithuania at 44.7% and Estonia at 35.8%. Spain and Greece both stayed above 35% throughout.

This is what a finished cost curve looks like at grid scale. Every point of solar share replaces generation that burns purchased fuel with capacity whose marginal cost is close to zero, and the year-over-year jumps — roughly three points EU-wide, nine points in Germany's July, thirty in Latvia — are trajectory, not weather. A fifth of a major economy's electricity now arrives without a fuel bill.

Two caveats: the July figure was preliminary when compiled, though the analysts say the record stands, and the laggards are large — France's best-ever month was 14.6% and Italy's 19.5%, both below the EU average. Watch whether storage build-out lets the summer share carry into the shoulder seasons.

Source: pv magazine