Wildfire smoke leads to drastic reduction in solar power production

June’s wildfire smoke, which had a devastating effect on air quality in Canada and the US Northeast, also blunted solar energy generation.

As plumes of smoke made their way south from Canada, they blocked out sunlight, leading to heavy clean-energy losses.

In parts of the eastern US, solar power generation dropped by as much as 50%, according to Bloomberg.

Data from regional grid operator ISO New England showed that, at peak-demand times, solar farms produced about 56% less energy than at the same time the week before, Bloomberg reported. For PJM Interconnection, which provides energy in the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest, solar energy production dropped 25% over the same time frame, Bloomberg noted.

New York bore the brunt of the wildfire smoke and consequently experienced a 1,466-megawatt reduction in solar energy production between June 6 and June 7, according to New York ISO. A single megawatt could power between 150 and 210 homes, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).

Besides blocking direct sunlight from hitting solar panels, wildfire smoke has the potential to disperse ash directly onto the panels, which can lower solar panel power production by as much as 40% if it is not removed.

Currently, solar power only accounts for 3.4% of the US energy mix, according to the Energy Information Administration, but as the country transitions to renewable energy and solar power becomes a more important part of that mix, the threat from the climate crisis increases as well.

The US solar power industry added over 20 gigawatts of solar capacity to the grid in 2022, making for a cumulative 142 gigawatts of solar electric capacity, enough to power more than 25 million “average American homes,” according to the SEIA.

The Biden administration said it wants to generate a “carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035 and net-zero emissions economy by no later than 2050,” but more intense heat waves and frequent wildfires threaten to derail that agenda.

Last year was one of the hottest on record, and the trend is unlikely to change; since 1980, summers have warmed by 0.47 degrees Fahrenheit every decade, the Washington Post reported.

Electricity generation on the West Coast was similarly affected by wildfires in September 2020, when smoke cut off almost a third of all solar power production in California, which accounted for nearly 20% of the state’s electricity generation at the time, The Verge reported.