I think the biggest impact for Germany is gonna be economical from shipping. Much of Germany's industry is along the Rhine and they get their raw materials via barge on the Rhine. The Rhine is already close to all time low which reduces capacity and increases cost. Usually low water happens between August and November. It was already close to record low in July! I wouldn't be surprised if shipping will have to stop entirely some time this year.
I watched a report that has an interview with the CEO of a cereal factory. They get all their wheat via barges. He said they already paid €100k extra this year for low-water surcharges for shipping and that they'd need 6,500 trucks annually if they'd replace the barges with trucks.
I was going to write that too, same thing in France: warmest month ever recorded since 1900, 35% sunnier than usual, large fires in places which rarely had small ones in the past, 4 consecutive heat waves in a bit more than a month... nothing to be happy about
> Why Is Europe Warming Twice as Fast as the World Average?
You'll find articles about every single land mass "warming up faster than average"... that's because the average include the 70% of the planet that is covered by oceans, these don't warm up nearly as fast as landmasses. We're all pretending we'll manage +1.5c or +2c by 2050, and in the average Joe's head that not much, in reality we're already fucked, July was +4c above normals in France, and we're in 2026 not 2025.
TLDR: 3 reasons. First the quickest warming is actually the poles (technically the south pole) which means the North pole cools Europe less. Europe's reduction in CO2 and other pollutants output, cause both more sunlight to hit the ground in Europe and make the likelihood of big airflows coming from the South (ie. Sahara) larger.
And yeah, my read is that this is more arguments in favor of: it doesn't matter which way CO2 evolves, we'll need to take control over the climate if we want cities to remain where they are.
We stopped high sulfur when we realized it was causing acid rain. CO2 is also acidifying the oceans, so there aren't a lot of things we can pump into the atmosphere without consequence. Best to avoid doing that altogether.
We won't stop pumping CO2 into the atmosphere (Germany, India and China actually increased coal burning in 2026, in all 3 cases despite all the good news about solar installations). Also we can't prevent fossil fuel producers from digging up fossil fuels.
And, because of entropy, reducing CO2 already in the atmosphere is a non-starter. For one thing, one can reasonably assume that would at minimum require doubling human energy output (because unmixing costs a lot more energy than mixing)
I mean if you put the belief behind the whole CO2 reduction in words, it's like this: if we slightly reduce CO2 output (not stop, reduce by single digit percent), we won't have to adapt. And if you put it like that it becomes easy to see: "no way in hell that's going to be true".
So there's not much of a choice: geoengineering it is. Next question: which method?
I would a well. Unfortunately, it seems that deliberate geoengineering always brings up concerns from people who think it's more ethical to just state at the lever as the trolly goes by. I partially blame the legal system. There won't be a lawsuit about not having deliberately spread more sulfur oxide.
Yeah I was in Europe for a month last month and this summer was the best ever. It was nice and hot everywhere I went. As a tourist I loved it but I’m the kind of person that looks forward to day long hikes in 110 degree weather.
Either you are a super human walking in water bowling water.
Or some US america who does not get fact that this context is talking about German Energy and the European heat wave and Fahrenheit is not used any metric in this part of the world. I considered especially rude that you assume the reader should convert the value though Fahrenheit is mostly used in USA.
In 2026 it should be criminal to have such stupid opinions about climate change, the only valid reason to have such takes is if you're a boomer about to kick the bucket.
What's next? "BaCk iN mY DaYs SumMeRs WeRe HoT ToO" ?
Germany has still one of the highest electricity and energy prices among developed nations which tremendously hurts its industrial base. That has to change too unless this cannot really be called a success I think.
Germany's electrical prices are mostly in line with it's neighbours, not super high. If a company makes good usage of batteries, they could actually have quite low prices since the electrical price undergoes huge swings throughout the day. All spring through fall the spot price goes to or near zero at midday almost daily.
Throughout the winter, wind is a bit more random but causes spells of high prices and spells of low prices.
The main thing causing electrical usage prices to be high in Germany is grid charges for the gigantic grid infrastructure buildout.
Germany's electrical grid is one of the most resilient and interconnected in the world, and it's rapidly being upgraded to accommodate the huge build-out of wind, solar, and batteries that is underway. I agree that the government should probably shoulder more of these grid-costs to take some burden off of major industrial users.
--
If a company makes good usage of batteries, they could actually have quite low prices since the electrical price undergoes huge swings throughout the day
--
Either, you are not from Germany or your example is a clear MBA-101-Bobo-Textbook example :-D
Even if prices were in line with Germanys neighbors, that does not mean a lot. Germanys industry is notoriously energy hungry. Germany is home of the biggest chemical companies in the world and they need easy access to gas, oil, electricity etc. Also the car industry is obviously still big. And so on. Most countries in the world lost their industrial base during the last 20-40 years but Germany kept it for the most part because of several factors. But this means that the average company in Germany needs easier and cheaper access to energy and raw materials than other average companies in other countries
I was just pointing out that the claim that it has abnormally high energy prices among developed nations isn't quite true.
I do agree though, that even just having 'normal' energy prices for a developed nation makes it very hard to be an industrial powerhouse.
IMO the only way forward is for Germany to build more energy infrastructure. Most importantly, we need more solar wind and batteries, but we also need upgrades to gas peaker plants, and more long-distance HVDC connections to neighbouring countries to better smooth out variations in weather that are inherent to intermittent renewables.
Doubling down on fossil fuels won't bring down Germany's energy costs.
They don't need access to gas and oil except for chemical processes. They could add as much solar, wind, and batteries as they want to capture whatever the maximum reasonable potential is of those technologies. The choice to go slower than China in doing so is a choice.
The Sun provides energy for free, every day, and will long into the future. To not capture this free energy to power your entire country, including your heavy industries, is a choice.
It’s not possible to truly estimate what our military costs would be without those conflicts, but I would be interested in our energy costs if you incorporated the military costs into that. I’m willing to bet we pay more than nearly anyone else if you lump it in relatively fairly.
We've gotten pretty good at digging holes in the ground and there's a lot of existing energy down there under our land (and near-by water). So yes, we've certainly had misadventures in the middle east, but we've also embraced the "drill baby drill" mantra of late.
Texas is probably our national leader in terms of deploying solar and wind power, which feels ironic but is totally rational and logical.
> The further we go down the renewables route the less we depend on despotic states for our energy.
80% of solar panels/batteries/windmills are made in China. We wouldn't even be able to make them without fossil fuels in the first place. Not even talking about the electronics that is needed
German wind turbines largely don't come from China, but even if they did, the difference is that if China stopped selling us solar panels, batteries and wind turbines, the existing infrastructure would continue to function for decades to come while we work out a domestic replacement supply chain.
This is in stark contrast to fossil fuels, where it's infeasible to stockpile more than a few months of usage, and if suppliers turn off the tap, you're at their mercy almost instantly.
If China stopped supplying solar panels or batteries, it'd spark a frenzy of activity and demand for locally produced replacements, and there would be enough time for those to come online.
No they aren't, it looks like the prices doubled and the government significantly cut taxes to hide the increase. That's not to mention the 3 year price spike during 2021-2023. Who's paying for the lost revenue from the tax cuts?
That doesn't change the fact that the prices didn't change for the companies therefore OP's argument about this hurt the companies doesn't have any basis.
Yeah and the tax reduction will end in 2028.
What I said still stands: German electricity prices for the industry are and will be one of the highest in the world.
They are also one of the few nations with high export to import ratios. If it is weighing down industry then it is a great loss factor in the race against china.
The problem with electricity for industrial use is, that you also need electricity during long, dark, cloudy winters, when there is very little solar power available. Somehow all the "green" supporters are all afraid of nuclear powerplants for some reason and instead prefer coal, even though there's more radioactive crap going into the air from that than from nuclear plants.
Cool, a quarter of the country is in a "D4 exceptional drought" (1 in 50 years), half of the rest in a 1 in 30 years drought and the rest in good ol' regular drought. But the sun do be bright indeed
Whenever I see news like this one I feel bad for us in Greece... we have so much sun yet we don't utilize it to the maximum we could for generating electricity and our KWh price is one of the most expensive in Europe. It's a pitty the government doesn't invest in solar or encourage households to do so :-(
Athens can’t build flat, stable, standardised side walks. The Italians own and operate their trains and when 50 students died in a very preventable head on collision no one has been held accountable in any real fashion.
Solar panels? They gotta fix the brain drain first. Anyone with the capability to bounce understandably does.
The only people with money are Israeli and Qatari real estate investors.
Solar panels are basically free at that point, they're pay themselves in <2 years in Greece. We're not talking about a 20k euros investment, even 1k would go a long way
Whether it is the best mechanism to incentivize a transition towards renewable energy sources is debatable, but OP at least implies that we’re on the right direction.
At some point we will have enough renewables to turn off the old and expensive gas and coal plants. Until then we just have to live with the feeling that it’s an investment towards future generations.
Perhaps humanities biggest flaw is to prioritize instant gratification over long term benefits.
> Maybe the effect is that solar panels lose efficiency when too hot
They do. One of the odd fringe benefits of agrovoltaics is that the plants beneath the panel slightly lower the panel temperatures through transpiration.
To answer tyromaniac's question that is dead and therefore I can't reply to: The United States utility companies bill by the kWh, so American-centric news will report in multiples of that unit.
And as a sidenote, why do people downvote a question rather than answer it? Some of us like answering questions and deadening a question removes that ability.
European utilities also bill by the kWh, the markets bill by the MW or MWh (depending on the market product), yet we’d still use TWh to write this number.
The American way of handling units is always surprising.
>And as a sidenote, why do people downvote a question rather than answer it? Some of us like answering questions and deadening a question removes that ability.
if its just [dead] (no [flagged]), as the case with tyromaniac, that's automated by the site (suspected spam/ai/bot/etc.).
the comment can be vouched for to lose the [dead] status by users with 500+ karma (i think? maybe 1000)
correct, moderators in that context is dang/tomhow, not just users with downvoting capabilities. user flags will always have [flagged], otherwise downvoting just makes the text gray
> He noted that the term “solar subsidy” can be misleading, as it implies that every kilowatt-hour of solar electricity fed into the grid is fully funded by public money.
> The IWR explained that Germany’s Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) operates on a differential cost model for new photovoltaic systems. Under the mechanism, electricity generated by solar installations is first sold on the power exchange, with the resulting market revenues credited to the EEG account. Only the difference between the market price and the statutory feed-in tariff is compensated through the EEG account.
Wait, this is still being subsidized by taxpayers? And Germany has some of the highest energy prices in Europe?
I feel like I'm taking crazy pills. On the one hand folks are happy to tout solar and wind as "the cheapest energy you can get" and on the other we have the market realities of what consumers and taxpayers are paying. There's a policy failure somewhere if the cheapness to produce energy this way is not being reflected in the market and subsidy structure. Does anyone have an analysis of wtf is going on?
The "subsidy" (Einspeisevergütung) is a fixed price paid for power sold to electricity providers, for those who don't want the complexity of taking part in the energy market. It was supposed to accelerate the transition to renewable electricity production by making financing more predictable.
And it worked very well, as it started the global solar boom. Because it's not necessary anymore as an incentive, it's slowly getting phased out.
The Einspeisevergütung is not the reason why consumer electricity is expensive in Germany, though. That's more related to our grid.
I'm a consumer in Germany, and I pay 250€ for 1.200 kWh (my yearly consumption). I don't know anyone who is paying those high prices mentioned in the articles. There are many electricity providers in Germany, and that creates competition; therefore, you get a lot of cash back by switching providers.
Coal usage in Germany has continued to shrink throughout the nuclear shutdown. It's at the lowest level it's been since the early days of industrialization.
I agree that nuclear should not have been phased out at the very least until coal was gone, but don't make up shit and say that they made up for the nuclear exit by burning more coal, that is untrue. Germany made up for it by building more renewables.
Glass half full, I suppose. Germany is in the grip of an unusual and prolonged drought -- clear skies, intense daytime heat, no rain.
> https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c78gn8zvrx4o
I'm near Graz, in Austria, where we're also in the middle of a drought and in truth I can't remember a summer as hot as this one...
I think the biggest impact for Germany is gonna be economical from shipping. Much of Germany's industry is along the Rhine and they get their raw materials via barge on the Rhine. The Rhine is already close to all time low which reduces capacity and increases cost. Usually low water happens between August and November. It was already close to record low in July! I wouldn't be surprised if shipping will have to stop entirely some time this year.
I watched a report that has an interview with the CEO of a cereal factory. They get all their wheat via barges. He said they already paid €100k extra this year for low-water surcharges for shipping and that they'd need 6,500 trucks annually if they'd replace the barges with trucks.
I was going to write that too, same thing in France: warmest month ever recorded since 1900, 35% sunnier than usual, large fires in places which rarely had small ones in the past, 4 consecutive heat waves in a bit more than a month... nothing to be happy about
It's truly unbelievable hot right now, this "good news" of solar production is pretty sad actually
Southern Germany to be more precise. Northern Germany is slightly affected, but nothing unusual.
https://www.hitzewarnungen.de/index.jsp
https://weatherkit.apple.com/alertDetails/index.html?ids=081...
I'd describe it a little differently myself.
The OP talked about draught, not current heat.
Draught monitor: https://www.ufz.de/index.php?de=37937
Europe is only going to get hotter and more dry for the foreseeable future.
Extreme Heat Has Transformed What Summer Means Across Generations in Europe - https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/01/world/europe/europe-summe... | https://archive.today/XsX2m - August 1st, 2026
Europe’s Heatwaves Are a Taste of the Climate Costs Yet to Come - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2026-07-27/europe... | https://archive.today/AqWba - July 27th, 2026
Why Is Europe Warming Twice as Fast as the World Average? - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-06-26/europe-he... | https://archive.today/o68OH - June 26th, 2026
> Why Is Europe Warming Twice as Fast as the World Average?
You'll find articles about every single land mass "warming up faster than average"... that's because the average include the 70% of the planet that is covered by oceans, these don't warm up nearly as fast as landmasses. We're all pretending we'll manage +1.5c or +2c by 2050, and in the average Joe's head that not much, in reality we're already fucked, July was +4c above normals in France, and we're in 2026 not 2025.
Australia is Warming Faster than Global Average: https://www.statista.com/chart/20404/mean-annual-temperature...
China warming faster than global average: https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202607/02/WS6a462fd5a310986e...
Europe’s warming accelerates beyond global trend: https://defence-industry-space.ec.europa.eu/europes-warming-...
Warming in Brazil is already higher than the global average: https://www.wwf.org.br/en/?90683/Climate-Warming-in-Brazil-i...
Africa is warming more rapidly than the global average: https://www.cseindia.org/africa-is-warming-more-rapidly-than...
Sabine explains: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9cDpdTlQrc
TLDR: 3 reasons. First the quickest warming is actually the poles (technically the south pole) which means the North pole cools Europe less. Europe's reduction in CO2 and other pollutants output, cause both more sunlight to hit the ground in Europe and make the likelihood of big airflows coming from the South (ie. Sahara) larger.
And yeah, my read is that this is more arguments in favor of: it doesn't matter which way CO2 evolves, we'll need to take control over the climate if we want cities to remain where they are.
We could start by running container ships on High Sulphur Fuel Oil. Same CO2, more cushion against Sun Rays.
We stopped high sulfur when we realized it was causing acid rain. CO2 is also acidifying the oceans, so there aren't a lot of things we can pump into the atmosphere without consequence. Best to avoid doing that altogether.
We won't stop pumping CO2 into the atmosphere (Germany, India and China actually increased coal burning in 2026, in all 3 cases despite all the good news about solar installations). Also we can't prevent fossil fuel producers from digging up fossil fuels.
And, because of entropy, reducing CO2 already in the atmosphere is a non-starter. For one thing, one can reasonably assume that would at minimum require doubling human energy output (because unmixing costs a lot more energy than mixing)
I mean if you put the belief behind the whole CO2 reduction in words, it's like this: if we slightly reduce CO2 output (not stop, reduce by single digit percent), we won't have to adapt. And if you put it like that it becomes easy to see: "no way in hell that's going to be true".
So there's not much of a choice: geoengineering it is. Next question: which method?
[delayed]
I would a well. Unfortunately, it seems that deliberate geoengineering always brings up concerns from people who think it's more ethical to just state at the lever as the trolly goes by. I partially blame the legal system. There won't be a lawsuit about not having deliberately spread more sulfur oxide.
Yeah, but one time in 1389 there was a heat wave! /s
Somewhat similar to 1992, which had a very hot August and 2nd half of July.
Yeah I was in Europe for a month last month and this summer was the best ever. It was nice and hot everywhere I went. As a tourist I loved it but I’m the kind of person that looks forward to day long hikes in 110 degree weather.
Either you are a super human walking in water bowling water.
Or some US america who does not get fact that this context is talking about German Energy and the European heat wave and Fahrenheit is not used any metric in this part of the world. I considered especially rude that you assume the reader should convert the value though Fahrenheit is mostly used in USA.
To be frank the best summer I’ve ever had in Berlin. Everyday warm and sunny and love it.
In 2026 it should be criminal to have such stupid opinions about climate change, the only valid reason to have such takes is if you're a boomer about to kick the bucket.
What's next? "BaCk iN mY DaYs SumMeRs WeRe HoT ToO" ?
I don't think any opinions should be criminal, but some deserve downvotes.
Germany has still one of the highest electricity and energy prices among developed nations which tremendously hurts its industrial base. That has to change too unless this cannot really be called a success I think.
Germany's electrical prices are mostly in line with it's neighbours, not super high. If a company makes good usage of batteries, they could actually have quite low prices since the electrical price undergoes huge swings throughout the day. All spring through fall the spot price goes to or near zero at midday almost daily.
Throughout the winter, wind is a bit more random but causes spells of high prices and spells of low prices.
The main thing causing electrical usage prices to be high in Germany is grid charges for the gigantic grid infrastructure buildout.
Germany's electrical grid is one of the most resilient and interconnected in the world, and it's rapidly being upgraded to accommodate the huge build-out of wind, solar, and batteries that is underway. I agree that the government should probably shoulder more of these grid-costs to take some burden off of major industrial users.
-- If a company makes good usage of batteries, they could actually have quite low prices since the electrical price undergoes huge swings throughout the day --
Either, you are not from Germany or your example is a clear MBA-101-Bobo-Textbook example :-D
Even if prices were in line with Germanys neighbors, that does not mean a lot. Germanys industry is notoriously energy hungry. Germany is home of the biggest chemical companies in the world and they need easy access to gas, oil, electricity etc. Also the car industry is obviously still big. And so on. Most countries in the world lost their industrial base during the last 20-40 years but Germany kept it for the most part because of several factors. But this means that the average company in Germany needs easier and cheaper access to energy and raw materials than other average companies in other countries
I was just pointing out that the claim that it has abnormally high energy prices among developed nations isn't quite true.
I do agree though, that even just having 'normal' energy prices for a developed nation makes it very hard to be an industrial powerhouse.
IMO the only way forward is for Germany to build more energy infrastructure. Most importantly, we need more solar wind and batteries, but we also need upgrades to gas peaker plants, and more long-distance HVDC connections to neighbouring countries to better smooth out variations in weather that are inherent to intermittent renewables.
Doubling down on fossil fuels won't bring down Germany's energy costs.
They don't need access to gas and oil except for chemical processes. They could add as much solar, wind, and batteries as they want to capture whatever the maximum reasonable potential is of those technologies. The choice to go slower than China in doing so is a choice.
The Sun provides energy for free, every day, and will long into the future. To not capture this free energy to power your entire country, including your heavy industries, is a choice.
Why Germany keeps switching off its solar and wind farms – and three ways to stop the problem - https://www.euronews.com/2026/07/27/why-germany-keeps-switch... - July 27th, 2026
Largest battery storage in Germany set for partial commissioning - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49104584 - July 2026 (0 comments)
Germany's solar installations drop while new battery storage hits record - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48019046 - May 2026 (8 comments)
Photos Capture the Breathtaking Scale of China’s Wind and Solar Buildout - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46630369 - January 2026 (572 comments)
Renewables Supplied Two-Thirds of Germany’s Power Last Year - https://e360.yale.edu/digest/germany-renewable-power-2024 - January 8th, 2025
The further we go down the renewables route the less we depend on despotic states for our energy.
Energy may well be cheap in the US but you have been paying for that for decades through military misadventures in the middle east.
It’s not possible to truly estimate what our military costs would be without those conflicts, but I would be interested in our energy costs if you incorporated the military costs into that. I’m willing to bet we pay more than nearly anyone else if you lump it in relatively fairly.
We've gotten pretty good at digging holes in the ground and there's a lot of existing energy down there under our land (and near-by water). So yes, we've certainly had misadventures in the middle east, but we've also embraced the "drill baby drill" mantra of late.
Texas is probably our national leader in terms of deploying solar and wind power, which feels ironic but is totally rational and logical.
> The further we go down the renewables route the less we depend on despotic states for our energy.
80% of solar panels/batteries/windmills are made in China. We wouldn't even be able to make them without fossil fuels in the first place. Not even talking about the electronics that is needed
German wind turbines largely don't come from China, but even if they did, the difference is that if China stopped selling us solar panels, batteries and wind turbines, the existing infrastructure would continue to function for decades to come while we work out a domestic replacement supply chain.
This is in stark contrast to fossil fuels, where it's infeasible to stockpile more than a few months of usage, and if suppliers turn off the tap, you're at their mercy almost instantly.
If China stopped supplying solar panels or batteries, it'd spark a frenzy of activity and demand for locally produced replacements, and there would be enough time for those to come online.
Who is making all those solar cells and batteries? I'll give you a hint, it's not a European country.
The electricity prices for the industry are around the same since 2014: https://www.bdew.de/service/daten-und-grafiken/bdew-strompre...
No they aren't, it looks like the prices doubled and the government significantly cut taxes to hide the increase. That's not to mention the 3 year price spike during 2021-2023. Who's paying for the lost revenue from the tax cuts?
That doesn't change the fact that the prices didn't change for the companies therefore OP's argument about this hurt the companies doesn't have any basis.
Yeah and the tax reduction will end in 2028. What I said still stands: German electricity prices for the industry are and will be one of the highest in the world.
They are also one of the few nations with high export to import ratios. If it is weighing down industry then it is a great loss factor in the race against china.
Ember Energy: European electricity prices and costs - https://ember-energy.org/data/european-electricity-prices-an... (updated daily)
The problem with electricity for industrial use is, that you also need electricity during long, dark, cloudy winters, when there is very little solar power available. Somehow all the "green" supporters are all afraid of nuclear powerplants for some reason and instead prefer coal, even though there's more radioactive crap going into the air from that than from nuclear plants.
Cool, a quarter of the country is in a "D4 exceptional drought" (1 in 50 years), half of the rest in a 1 in 30 years drought and the rest in good ol' regular drought. But the sun do be bright indeed
Always look on the bright side of life.
anxious whistling
Whenever I see news like this one I feel bad for us in Greece... we have so much sun yet we don't utilize it to the maximum we could for generating electricity and our KWh price is one of the most expensive in Europe. It's a pitty the government doesn't invest in solar or encourage households to do so :-(
I see this in so many sunny countries, which is such a shame. So what prevents you from just installing panels on your roof?
Athens can’t build flat, stable, standardised side walks. The Italians own and operate their trains and when 50 students died in a very preventable head on collision no one has been held accountable in any real fashion.
Solar panels? They gotta fix the brain drain first. Anyone with the capability to bounce understandably does.
The only people with money are Israeli and Qatari real estate investors.
GDP per capita in Greece is €29,696, in Germany it is €65,303. Rich countries can afford to decarbonise more quickly.
Solar panels are basically free at that point, they're pay themselves in <2 years in Greece. We're not talking about a 20k euros investment, even 1k would go a long way
It would be nice if that led to lower prices. All the comparisons I could find are showing Germany near the top for electricity price.
https://energyfactbook.com/world/electricity-prices-by-count...
Merit-order pricing keeps consumer prices high.
Whether it is the best mechanism to incentivize a transition towards renewable energy sources is debatable, but OP at least implies that we’re on the right direction.
At some point we will have enough renewables to turn off the old and expensive gas and coal plants. Until then we just have to live with the feeling that it’s an investment towards future generations.
Perhaps humanities biggest flaw is to prioritize instant gratification over long term benefits.
Yey, we contribute 432 kWh to that. Northern Germany, small 6.3 kWp system.
817 kWh here. Though june last year was the record at 904 kWh. Maybe the effect is that solar panels lose efficiency when too hot.
> Maybe the effect is that solar panels lose efficiency when too hot
They do. One of the odd fringe benefits of agrovoltaics is that the plants beneath the panel slightly lower the panel temperatures through transpiration.
530 kWh here in July pushed to the grid with a 5kWp system
12 TWh
But how many AAA-batteries is that?
About 8 trillion:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AAA_battery
Standard NiMH AAA battery is ~1Wh so 12 Trillion (12,000,000,000,000)
Or 12 trillion nuclear power plants with a capacity of 1 Wh each
I'd like a nuclear power plant with a capacity of 1 Wh to play with.
I don't get it
12B KWh = 12M MWh = 12,000 TWh?
You skipped GWh.
12B kWh = 12M MWh = 12k GWh = 12 TWh.
To answer tyromaniac's question that is dead and therefore I can't reply to: The United States utility companies bill by the kWh, so American-centric news will report in multiples of that unit.
And as a sidenote, why do people downvote a question rather than answer it? Some of us like answering questions and deadening a question removes that ability.
European utilities also bill by the kWh, the markets bill by the MW or MWh (depending on the market product), yet we’d still use TWh to write this number.
The American way of handling units is always surprising.
>And as a sidenote, why do people downvote a question rather than answer it? Some of us like answering questions and deadening a question removes that ability.
if its just [dead] (no [flagged]), as the case with tyromaniac, that's automated by the site (suspected spam/ai/bot/etc.).
the comment can be vouched for to lose the [dead] status by users with 500+ karma (i think? maybe 1000)
comments don't gain [dead] due to downvoting.
oh, so when https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html says:
>What does [dead] mean?
>The post was killed by software, user flags, or moderators.
"moderators" isn't referring to just anybody with a downvote capability? They mean just the website owners, e.g. dang, etc.?
correct, moderators in that context is dang/tomhow, not just users with downvoting capabilities. user flags will always have [flagged], otherwise downvoting just makes the text gray
Climate change has come through for us once again
The elevated temperatures actually reduce the efficiency of solar panels. The increase is due to more panels, not more solar flux on Germany.
Turns out the glass was half-empty and half-empty then
But it is (should be) cheap to power the AC now.
That reminds me of my friend who wants to fly around the world to see the Great Barrier Reef before it's gone.
Anyone know why they dont just say 12TWh?
> He noted that the term “solar subsidy” can be misleading, as it implies that every kilowatt-hour of solar electricity fed into the grid is fully funded by public money.
> The IWR explained that Germany’s Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) operates on a differential cost model for new photovoltaic systems. Under the mechanism, electricity generated by solar installations is first sold on the power exchange, with the resulting market revenues credited to the EEG account. Only the difference between the market price and the statutory feed-in tariff is compensated through the EEG account.
Wait, this is still being subsidized by taxpayers? And Germany has some of the highest energy prices in Europe?
I feel like I'm taking crazy pills. On the one hand folks are happy to tout solar and wind as "the cheapest energy you can get" and on the other we have the market realities of what consumers and taxpayers are paying. There's a policy failure somewhere if the cheapness to produce energy this way is not being reflected in the market and subsidy structure. Does anyone have an analysis of wtf is going on?
The "subsidy" (Einspeisevergütung) is a fixed price paid for power sold to electricity providers, for those who don't want the complexity of taking part in the energy market. It was supposed to accelerate the transition to renewable electricity production by making financing more predictable.
And it worked very well, as it started the global solar boom. Because it's not necessary anymore as an incentive, it's slowly getting phased out.
The Einspeisevergütung is not the reason why consumer electricity is expensive in Germany, though. That's more related to our grid.
I'm a consumer in Germany, and I pay 250€ for 1.200 kWh (my yearly consumption). I don't know anyone who is paying those high prices mentioned in the articles. There are many electricity providers in Germany, and that creates competition; therefore, you get a lot of cash back by switching providers.
Pretty much. Average household doesn't see this though, not directly. The industry on the other hand does, very much so.
Good progress. Germany also shut down its nuclear sector and made up for it by burning crap tons of coal.
Coal usage in Germany has continued to shrink throughout the nuclear shutdown. It's at the lowest level it's been since the early days of industrialization.
I agree that nuclear should not have been phased out at the very least until coal was gone, but don't make up shit and say that they made up for the nuclear exit by burning more coal, that is untrue. Germany made up for it by building more renewables.
Soo... 12 TWh? Isn't that why we have metric prefixes? So we don't have to say that there's 12 billion of something...
Outside of tech circles, it's pretty normal to avoid using the uncommon prefixes. Nobody says the Earth has a 40 megameter circumference...
Billion can mean different things in different parts of the world. kilo-, mega-, giga-, tera- are the standard prefixes.
120 trillion dWh is how I like to think about this. Very impressive.