This summer’s heatwave has increased the EU’s solar output by 17%, research by Ember finds.
This included rises of 28% in Italy, 23% in Hungary, 14% in France and 13% in Spain, compared with days measured before the heatwave.
UK households have been able to produce enough solar to power their homes and sell on, allowing them to earn around 12p per kilowatt-hour (kWh) through the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) scheme during the heatwave in June.
Most homes generated around 10kWh to power themselves, meaning they saved an average of £2.49 a day on energy bills.
In total, 5kWh was exported to the grid daily which create average savings of 55p. Over the seven-day heatwave this equated to £21.
Ember also found that during the heatwave, a typical UK rooftop solar system produced the necessary power to run a household air conditioning unit for five hours.
Despite solar soaring, nuclear, gas and coal power supply in the EU had a decreased output due to the lack of available water for cooling. This includes five UK gas plants cutting 2.5GW in June.
Hydropower also suffered with drought alerts in Central, Eastern and Western Europe, meaning seven of the EU’s eight largest producers recorded output below their five-year averages.
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