Solar energy has had an honest crisis. In many parts of the globe skies afar from pollution have helped photovoltaic power stations, which convert light into electricity, become more productive and reliable. Declining demand, meanwhile, has seen coal- and gas-fired stations taken offline. In Britain, on April 20th, solar generation peaked at 9.7 gigawatts. At the instant this happened that represented almost 30% of the country’s electricity supply—ten times the standard proportion. In Germany the proportion of solar within the mix reached 23% for a complete week in April, compared with a median of about 8% during 2019.
Though temporary, such figures are impressive. alternative energy, they suggest, has come old. In some ways, however, despite solar’s new and glossy image, this can be the victory of an old technology.
