L R AS Published on Saturday 25 April 2020 - n° 319 - Categories:various sectors

Pandemic improves the atmosphere and increases solar production

The health crisis in Europe is reducing air pollution as vehicles, planes and factories are virtually shut down. This creates clean air, clear skies and increased solar production in Europe. Spain, for example,

Germany and the UK all broke solar production records this spring.

It is usual that in spring, production increases thanks to recent installations. This year, the effect is accentuated by the clear atmosphere. The British government has detected a 25% drop in nitrogen dioxide in the air. This drop, up to 50%, is even more pronounced in the most polluted areas of the country. Solar production peaked at 9.7 GW with a rather low average temperature (14°C), below the usual average due to pollution. This allowed Great Britain to live without coal for a fortnight.

In Germany, the same phenomenon occurred with a solar production that reached a record of 32 GW.

Spain also broke its production record with 6.3 GW, after the country commissioned 4.7 GW last year. The recent commissioning of the 500 MW plant will be reflected in the April figures.

Pollution blocks some of the solar radiation and makes the panels dirtier. Aerosols such as sulphur dioxide also cause more cloud cover, which reduces the efficiency of the PV systems. Last summer, a study on air pollution in China showed its impact on solar production. The loss of production was estimated at between 11% and 15% between 1960 and 2015. If pollution had been reduced to 1960 levels, an additional US$1.9 billion of electricity could have been generated in 2016.

GreenTech Media of 22 April

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