Britain sets solar record (twice)

Good news out of Britain, where their growing solar electricity capability is breaking records (and will continue to, I’m sure).

Britain’s sunny spring weather powered the grid to new solar energy records on two consecutive days this week.

Solar farms in England, Wales and Scotland generated 14.1GW of low-carbon electricity at lunchtime on Monday, surpassing the previous high of 14GW in July last year. And that record was toppled a day later when power generation from the sun’s energy climbed to another new high of 14.4GW on Tuesday afternoon.

This increased generation will soon make it possible for them to turn off gas-fueled power entirely, at least for short periods. Progress!

The article ends with a nod at what may be a sunny silver lining to the monstrous, idiotic war on Iran:

Michael Shanks, the energy minister, said: “…It is crucial we learn the lessons of the conflict in the Middle East – solar is one of the cheapest forms of power available and is how we get off the rollercoaster of international fossil fuel markets and secure our own energy independence.”

Another recent British story strikes a similar note: Octopus reports sharp rise in solar panel sales since start of Iran war. Namely, those sales were up 54% in March compared with February. The article goes on, “Good Energy, a green electricity supplier, said it had seen a doubling of interest in solar panels in the past three months.”

This is the right reaction! Even if burning them weren’t killing us (it is!), depending on and paying for the import of fossil fuels for everything isn’t necessary anymore!