12/08/2026
What happens when a solar eclipse meets a grid increasingly powered by solar? ☀️🌑
Today’s total solar eclipse will temporarily reduce sunlight across parts of Europe, with Britain alone expecting a drop of around 700 MW–1.3 GW in solar generation.
The impact will vary significantly by location. Around 99% of the Sun will be obscured in Madrid, compared with 91% in London, although with the eclipse arriving in the evening, solar generation will already be on its natural decline towards sunset.
Naturally, solar generation is always changing. Most days, that’s down to cloud cover, weather, time of day or the seasons. Today, it's the moon! And on a much smaller scale, that same change could be visible on solar systems at home.
If you have solar, check your generation data afterwards. You may see exactly when the eclipse passed overhead.
Eclipse data: NASA / NESO