Solar Power
Solar’s problem in 2026 is not cost, it is value. When a country’s panels all generate at the same moment, the price that power earns collapses — the capture rate — and in parts of Europe midday prices now sit below zero for hundreds of hours a year. That changes what a solar project is worth without changing what it costs to build.
Our coverage runs from utility-scale procurement and capture rates through to rooftop economics, agrivoltaics, and the storage that increasingly decides whether a solar business case closes at all.
Latest coverage
The BrightVolt Take: ‘Anytime Solar’ Is a Ceiling, Not a Fact
The Ember report that coined ‘anytime solar’ found 2026’s batteries could shift 34% of new solar into non-sunny hours. That figure is a theoretical ceiling the fleet is running a third idle beneath.
US Wind and Solar Overtook Nuclear in the First Half of 2026
US wind and solar generated about 420 TWh in the first half of 2026 — a fifth of the country’s electricity and more than nuclear — even as Washington moved to repeal the credits that built it.
The BrightVolt Take: Solar’s Record Half Is Already the Past
US wind and solar passed both coal and nuclear in the first half of 2026 — 420 TWh, 20% of the grid. But that record was locked in before July’s subsidy cliff. Watch construction starts, not output.
Solar Capture Rate Explained: Why More Solar Earns Less
A solar farm’s capture rate is the share of the average wholesale price it actually earns. Europe’s hit a record-low 38% this spring; France managed 9.5% in April. Here’s why it falls, and what raises it.
Agrivoltaics: What 320 Experiments Actually Found
Of 264 crop trials under solar panels, 59.8% yielded less than open field and 12.9% more. The case for agrivoltaics survives that, but not in the form it is usually sold.
China’s Coal Share Fell Below Half. Coal Still Grew.
Coal supplied 49.7% of China’s electricity in the first half of 2026, a record low share. Generation rose, construction continues, and the other official statistical series still puts coal above 50%.
The BrightVolt Take: Europe’s Solar Problem Is Value
Solar hit 25% of EU electricity in June 2026. European solar farms captured a record-low 38% of the wholesale price, and France managed 9.5% in April. Stop counting gigawatts.
Solar and Storage Are 79% of New US Grid Capacity in 2026
The EIA projects a record 86 GW of new US generating capacity this year. Solar takes 43.4 GW and storage 24 GW, leaving natural gas with one gigawatt in every fourteen.
The BrightVolt Take: Solar Isn’t the Bottleneck. The Queue Is.
Record solar output means little when 773 GW is stuck in a queue that now takes 61 months to clear. The constraint on powering the AI boom cleanly is interconnection, not generation.
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