There is a surplus of solar power generation in Germany, and electricity prices have fallen to negative territory

IT House

2024-05-26 21:41Posted on the official account of Shandong IT Home

IT Home reported on May 26 that, according to Business Insider, Germany's large-scale development of solar energy has caused a surge in power generation, exceeding consumer demand, causing electricity prices to plummet, and even falling to negative values, forming a fantasy energy market, where consumers can get paid for using electricity.

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According to Bloomberg, falling electricity prices have hurt the profits of solar power producers, slowing the pace of further solar expansion and hampering progress on overall carbon emission reduction plans. But the main problem is the lack of efficiency, and consumers tend to use the most electricity when the sun is not shining, such as in the evening when they get home from work, which means that a lot of electricity is wasted.

The collapse in electricity prices is due to Germany's solar energy boom last year, adding a staggering 14,280 megawatts of new photovoltaic capacity, nearly double the previous year.

IT House notes that Germany is not alone. The same problem is also encountered in California, where falling electricity prices have slowed the pace of solar panel installations, which in turn has slowed the state to achieve its carbon neutrality goal. California lawmakers' short-term response is to reduce subsidies to solar power companies, much to the displeasure of the industry.

Obviously, the long-term solution is to install energy storage facilities to store this excess solar energy so that consumers can use it on cloudy days and during peak power demand periods, usually at night.

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