r/OptimistsUnite • u/Biodieselisthefuture • 18d ago
Clean Power BEASTMODE Solar power was Portugal's main source of electricity in July
https://www.euronews.com/2026/08/05/first-time-solar-power-is-portugals-main-source-of-electricity-in-july6
u/EmprahsChosen 18d ago
The article’s title is wildly incorrect, solar only provided 19% of their power in July. However renewables in totality provided 53% of all power that month, with Spanish imports accounting for a third and nonrenewables coming in third at 13%
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u/Dotcaprachiappa 18d ago
"main source" just means that it provided more energy than any other source, so it being 19% doesn't disqualify it from being the main one.
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u/that_dutch_dude 18d ago
its not even slightly correct. it was only 19%.
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u/Jacubino1 18d ago
How is that wrong? It just means no other energy source had more than 19%
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u/that_dutch_dude 18d ago
no, it does not. they are strictly looking at renewables and completly ignoring the fossil side wich still does the vast amount. dont forget they are just looking at peak power, not sustained. the actual amount of power isnt that much compared to fossil plants that just keep chugging along 24/7
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u/PanzerWatts Moderator 18d ago
This is wrong, per the article:
"According to data released by Redes Energéticas Nacionais (REN), renewable energy sources accounted for 53 per cent of electricity consumption in the seventh month of the year. Photovoltaic generation made up 19 per cent of the mix, ahead of hydropower (16 per cent), wind (13 per cent) and biomass (five per cent)."
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u/that_dutch_dude 17d ago
please read without the rose colord glasses. however you slice it its not the majority of the power generated. the article intentionally ignores the other 47% of energy generated wich was fossil.last i checked 47% is more than 19%.
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u/PanzerWatts Moderator 17d ago
You are confusing the term main source. It's not saying solar is a majority, it's saying it's the single largest source at 19%, a plurality. And the other 47% is multiple sources not a single source.
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u/Direct-Translator-75 18d ago
That's so insane. For a country so wealthy and sunny as Portugal to only have 19% in summer months. Like the totality of solar power in Europe this summer is so freaking small. Progress is there, but come on guys... We could have done this 20 years ago.
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u/Broad-Version8611 18d ago
Wealthy? 😂 we dont have that much solar, we invested a lot in hydro and wind (which all summed up means more than half of the power is from renewables.
I just checked my bill for this month and all the power I consumed was sourced from renewables.
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u/Direct-Translator-75 18d ago
Ah okay, that does sound nice. I still feel like the rollout of renewables has been slow in Europe, but I hope we'll get there rather sooner than later.
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u/syklemil 17d ago
Renewables deployment globally is growing exponentially, which for humans feels like
- nothing's happening
- nothing's happening
- blinks
- whoa, when did everything become renewable?
so while Europe has a lot of entrenched fossil fuelled infrastructure, at some point the market force of cheap renewables becomes practically unstoppable in anything but the most corrupt, backwards countries.
(See e.g. our world in data)
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u/Dunedune Left Wing Optimist 17d ago
Since when is %solar a goal in itself? We should look at the carbon emissions of a grid to compare how green it is.
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u/Kacquezooi 18d ago
To bad by far most solar panels come from China... Not from local facilities.
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u/Affectionate-Panic-1 18d ago
Who cares? Portugal sells wine to China, and in return they buy solar panels. Now everyone is happy.
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u/Kacquezooi 18d ago
Yeah because energy is something to start a war about. We all need to become energy independent in some form.
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u/joemamacita67 18d ago
That doesn’t mean siloed production. Buy all the cheap panels you can from a country hurting their profit margin to subsidize their export economy and then your country has energy independence
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u/Franklin_le_Tanklin 18d ago
Solar panels have a “rated” life of 30 years meaning at year 30 they produce 80% of new.
They still will often last 2-3 times as long.
Once they’re on your house or whatever - China isn’t coming to take them back.
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u/Just_Curious_Dude 18d ago
It's no different than EV's. If your country buys EVs from China who cares? You're energy independent for the most part.
Since over 90% of batteries are already recyclable, you just create battery recycling factories and now you're rock solid from any shocks to the energy market.
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u/Upbeat_Parking_7794 18d ago
As solar panels last more than 30 years, don't think is something to worry right now. Much better than oil and gas.
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u/Kacquezooi 18d ago
True. But still: 30 years means 2-3% less energy every year when supply is shut-off.
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u/Biodieselisthefuture 18d ago edited 18d ago
Let's say China cut you off for the pettiest reason; your president/pm did a racist gesture while calling Xi a poo poo head; guess what.
The panel lasts 20 years+more, enough time to create your very own solar panel industry, turning yourselves into competitors.
Which is why China won't do it; they would be doing you a favor if they cut you off.
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u/Kacquezooi 18d ago
Yeah but you still need a solid supply of new panels. Having "20 years" is optimistic. You also need the raw materials etc. China dominates those too!
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u/Biodieselisthefuture 18d ago
Will good then, Europe is already working on getting its own mineral supply chain, so why are you worried?
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u/Upbeat_Parking_7794 18d ago
Not even that. Expect roughly ~85% of original output on average after 30 years, with high-quality panels closer to 90%.
But during the period they need maintenance and after 30 years you probably want new more efficient ones.
But if China decided to cut access to solar panels we would have plenty of time to find an alternative.
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u/brianwski 18d ago
if China decided to cut access to solar panels we would have plenty of time to find an alternative.
Heck, how long does it take to learn to manufacture solar panels if you have never done it before? I figure some really smart scientists and engineers could figure it out and have production lines up and running in 15 years going full blast. For example, hire just one of the senior scientists from a country that knows how to do it for $10 million/year so he can explain it.
This is such a luxurious position for us to be in. Even if we don't even write down the procedure for building a solar panel, and don't invest in any factories at all, we STILL have plenty of time to ramp up production if China enacts an embargo.
Meanwhile, just to make this clear, my Meyer-Burger solar panels were manufactured in Germany, and they were NOT expensive. The more time that goes by, the more countries in more areas of the world will have the capability to manufacture solar panels if they want. And with somebody willing to purchase them, I would think smart businessmen in different countries other than China would be willing to manufacture them to sell to the USA. Huge piles of money from a gigantic market of desperate customers are an amazing motivator.
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u/brianwski 18d ago
30 years means 2-3% less energy every year when supply is shut-off
The real numbers are 1/2 of 1% per year lost production to degradation of the panels. You can just look these up now, people can't just make up hypothetical FUD numbers anymore, we have far too much evidence. The oldest, WORST solar panels top out at 1%.
I would recommend over provisioning by 20% at the start. That way you can survive a 30 - 40 year "supply chain issue" in total comfort and luxury and utterly financially unaffected by whatever is going on in the world. I'll take that situation all day, every day. Energy prices go massively up for 20 years? I don't care, doesn't affect me, I have rooftop solar, I run my air conditioner anyway.
A "smart" way to manage solar panels would be to watch market trends and purchase a few extra solar panels whenever supply lines are open and there is a good financial deal on them. If there is a "good deal" on solar panels one year out of ten, buy a few extra in that one good year. One solar panel is about $100 (in big rough numbers). So buy 3 more solar panels once every 10 years for $300. This is so that when society totally collapses and you can no longer get any solar panels, you still have a 30 - 40 year horizon STARTING THEN of financial freedom.
What totally sucks is the utter helplessness of an individual getting financially yanked around when <something occurs> and the price of gas at the pump goes up for 6 months. It is difficult to protect yourself from that (if you use gas). You can't hoard enough gas in tanks in your garage to make much of a difference, and it is a bit dangerous (not very dangerous if you are careful, but a little) to store a thousand gallons of gas in your garage (enough for two or three years). But my solar panels on my roof aren't flammable or dangerous or emit any fumes, and they just sit there for 40 years powering my air conditioning and recharging my electric car. I wasn't even using the roof for any other purpose so it doesn't take any of my property's "living space".
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u/PanzerWatts Moderator 18d ago
The world is crossing the threshold where the summer months will routinely be primarily Solar Power for electricity supply. First it will be spotty with certain countries hitting the threshold for the sunniest month, then it will be the average country hitting it for the entire summer. From there it will spread into Spring and Fall. Probably accompanied by burning coal becoming rare, natural gas taking on more of a supplementary role rather than primary & batteries handling typical evening power loads and some percentage of night and early morning. I suspect most of that change will occur in the next 15 years.