Another black mark for coal – it hinders solar panels

If coal isn’t causing enough problems in the fight against climate change, scientists at Oxford University and University College London have now found it is sabotaging solar panels.

Their large-scale study, which mapped and assessed more than 140,000 solar PV installations worldwide using satellite data, discovered that aerosol pollution from coal-fired power plants is blocking sunlight from reaching solar farms, so reducing the amount of electricity they can generate.

They discovered that fine particles of dust and ash scatter and absorb sunlight even before it ever reaches the panels. This cuts the amount of electricity that solar farms can produce globally by almost six per cent.

“Isn’t it ironic,” said Midland green energy expert Ron Fox, “that the production of clean green energy is being hit by coal, the dirtiest and most polluting fossil fuel, which when burnt produces the highest carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per unit of energy.”

“This research is also worrying,” said Ron, of Noreus Ltd on the University of Keele Science and Innovation Park, “as it highlights a previously unrecognised interaction between fossil fuel use and renewable energy, where emissions from one system directly reduce the performance of the other.”

According to the study in the journal Nature Sustainability, losses were especially severe in areas where solar farms and coal plants operate in close proximity to each other.

China, the world’s largest solar producer, generated 793.5 TWh (Terawatt-hours) of solar PV electricity in 2023, 41.5 per cent of the global output. One TWh equals one billion kilowatt-hours (kWh), which is enough to power approximately 250,000 to 300,000 average homes for an entire year.

But it also experienced the largest losses, with total solar output reduced by 7.7 per cent because of the pollution. The researchers estimate that around 29 per cent of solar PV losses in China come specifically from coal-fired power plants.

Interestingly, China was found to be the only major region showing a sustained improvement. Aerosol-related solar PV losses declined by an average of 0.96 TWh per year (−1.4 per cent annually) between 2013 and 2023. This is likely due to stricter emission standards and widespread adoption of ultra-low-emission technologies within coal-fired power plants, rather than a reduction in coal capacity itself.

This article raises some important questions, said Ron. Are you worried about this previously unrecognised reaction between coal and solar panels and how one system directly reduces the performance of the other, as some of our readers are? Are you thinking of buying solar panels and are you now having second thoughts? Should the Government be doing more to encourage green projects? Send your views to Ron Fox at [email protected]

For more details about solar technology and how to invest in green energy, call Ron on 0845 474 6641 or go to www.noreus.co.uk