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Solar Power Reduces Wholesale Electricity Prices (4 Charts)

by Zach January 11, 2014
written by Zach January 11, 2014
Solar Power Reduces Wholesale Electricity Prices (4 Charts)

A reader recently shared some great Fraunhofer reports on renewable energy in Germany with me. One of them I had already written a pretty long article about back in November, but the second I don’t think I’d seen. It’s an extensive look at electricity prices and production data in 2013. It’s got more charts on electricity prices than I care to count. However, a few of these I thought I’d share just to make a point I haven’t made in a while.

The point is that solar PV production comes at times we need it most. When the sun is shining, we also tend to be using a lot of electricity. Historically, due to a limited amount of power capacity on the grid, that increase in demand meant an increase in the wholesale price of electricity bid on the spot market. However, when solar PV penetration really starts to get up there (as it has in Germany), that boost in midday production results in a drop in wholesale power prices — solar bids everyone down.

In the first chart below, you can see how electricity prices trend up with electricity production/demand in the middle of the day (when not much electricity is being produced from solar energy).

germany electricity prices winter

In the next three charts, you can see how solar PV production results in electricity price drops similar to those seen in the middle of the night when electricity demand is really low.

electricity prices solar

solar pv production electricity costs

solar reduces cost of electricity

For more details and analysis on this matter and others related to electricity prices in Germany, check out the full Fraunhofer report.

electricity pricesFraunhofergermanyGermany solar electricity spot pricesGermany solar pricesGermany solar wholesale electricity pricessolar electricity spot pricessolar wholesale electricity priceswholesale electricity prices
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Zach

is the director of CleanTechnica, the most popular cleantech-focused website in the world, and Planetsave, a world-leading green and science news site. He has been covering green news of various sorts since 2008, and he has been especially focused on solar energy, electric vehicles, and wind energy since 2009. Aside from his work on CleanTechnica and Planetsave, he's the founder and director of Solar Love, EV Obsession, and Bikocity. To connect with Zach on some of your favorite social networks, go to ZacharyShahan.com and click on the relevant buttons.

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