By Lara Howell

This year is projected to be one of the hottest on record, and even this Texas-raised girl is feeling the Virginia heat this summer! 

We all want to save the planet, but we also want to cool our homes and keep the lights on during the scorching heat of the summer. Renewable energy has emerged as a game-changer in boosting grid capacity and preventing blackouts while we crank air conditioning day and night as the summer grinds on. As we increase solar and other renewable generation and battery storage capacity across the country, we can use clean, affordable energy to power our homes and keep us safe during this record-breaking heat.

Below are some examples of how solar energy and battery storage are saving the day and changing the game.

Solar energy is making power moves

Solar energy is quickly becoming a key player in energy grids nationwide. 

In order to keep the power on and the air conditioning running during hot summer months, reliability in the electrical grid is a must. In the summer of 2023, increased demand had regulators questioning the grid’s reliability and bracing for blackouts. Luckily, solar power stepped up to the plate and helped to relieve potential risks and shortfalls of the grid. Last month, Virginia Mercury reported that “[t]he nation has enough energy supply to handle normal peak demand, largely because of 25 gigawatts of new solar power capacity.” Without the capacity added by new solar, some areas would have an “elevated risk” of power shortfalls, according to the ​​North American Electric Reliability Corporation. Instead, NERC is feeling more optimistic about this summer’s demand, in part due to the contribution of solar development. 

Record-breaking heat and record-setting solar capacity

Last year was a record-breaker in both high temperatures and solar power generation. All the country’s power grids set records for solar generation in the summer of 2023. PJM, the power grid for the East that services Virginia and West Virginia, produced 3 gigawatts of solar power on a single day in September — that’s enough electricity to power over 2 million homes! Solar Energy Industries Association predicts that by 2033, “the U.S. will have installed 669 gigawatts of total solar capacity, more than four times the amount installed today,” and will have created 215,000 new jobs. This increase is largely due to the Inflation Reduction Act, which passed in 2022 and expands federal incentives for renewable energy, like solar, and helps to put renewables on a level playing field with the historically-subsidized fossil fuel industry.

Don’t mess with Texas

Nowhere were these records as clear as in Texas. 2023’s punishingly intense heat pushed Texas’ demand for electricity to a new record on 10 occasions. Previous run-ins with extreme weather had left many parts of Texas without power, but that was not the case in 2023. Solar generation, which at times provided 20% of Texas’ load capacity in 2023, helped prevent blackouts in the Lone Star State, said Jeff Bishop, chief executive of battery developer Key Capture Energy in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. 

Michael Webber, an energy resources professor at the University of Texas at Austin, stated in an interview with the Texas Tribune that, “The solar we’ve added in the last year has been tremendously beneficial, and the solar we will continue to add will also be beneficial. […] Solar is such a boon for us, for grid reliability.” 

Solar generation can keep the lights on during the day, but as the sun sets and demand for electricity rises in the evening, solar needs a little assistance. That’s where batteries come in…

Battery storage helped us RECHARGE at night

Battery storage played an important role in bolstering the grid on the hottest days, helping to keep air conditioners cranking at night after sundown when solar generation stops. Batteries can store anywhere from one to eight hours’ worth of energy, depending on location, which can help to bridge the gap in solar generation between when the sun sets and rises. Battery storage capacity has increased ten times over the last three years, providing more stability and reliability to grids during peak hours. More batteries are expected to hit the grid soon, as developers and investors are planning to install them across 29 states while taking advantage of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act’s tax credit. 

Batteries can also help to address another effect of hot days: warm nights. Warmer nights can be risky, especially for those who struggle to pay their electricity bills or who don’t have air conditioning. Increased solar and battery storage on the local distribution system can help lower and stabilize costs, which means cooler indoor temps and even new appliances can now be in reach, helping to avoid potentially huge productivity and health consequences for our society.
Solar energy is a growing, vital part of electrical grids across the nation, helping to carry the energy loads of our hottest days (and, with battery storage, the coldest nights) and ensuring that your A.C. keeps running! So tell the sun you love it a whole watt! 

Lara is originally from Charlottesville, Va., but spent most of her life in central Texas (far, far away from the mountains). She is happy to be returning to Virginia as a rising senior at the University of Virginia, where she studies Global Environments & Sustainability and Religious Studies.