Batteries Are Closing Solar’s Evening Gap — and the Numbers Show How Fast

Solar power crossed a significant milestone in the first half of 2026, supplying more than one tenth of global electricity consumption — yet the same period highlights the technology’s structural limitation. Analytics firm Ember found that solar plants met over a quarter of worldwide demand between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., while contributing virtually nothing after dark. In markets with deep solar penetration the midday concentration is even sharper: Chile reached 71% solar share at noon, the Netherlands 58%, Germany 55%. Once the sun sets, fossil fuels resume their role.

Battery energy storage systems are rapidly becoming the primary answer to that mismatch. Global new capacity additions in 2026 are forecast at 459 GWh — a 50% jump on the previous year — helped by a near-95% drop in battery costs since 2010, with prices reaching roughly $140 per kilowatt-hour in 2025.

Country-level results illustrate how pronounced the gap in deployment already is:

• Bulgaria leads proportionally: batteries commissioned in 2025 can shift 77% of new daily solar output into later hours, with cumulative installed capacity exceeding 8.6 GWh by May 2026 — up from almost nothing in 2023.
• Chile added 4 GWh last year; storage now covers more than 10% of evening electricity demand.
• United States installed 58 GWh, capable of displacing roughly a quarter of incremental solar generation.
• European Union added 27 GWh, achieving a 16% shift — trailing the global leaders.

Taken together, batteries installed in 2026 are on track to move 34% of new daily solar output into non-solar hours, compared with 18% for 2025 systems and just 4% five years ago. Ember analysts note that wind, hydro, nuclear power, and longer-duration storage will still be needed during extended periods of weak sunshine, and that market rules must allow batteries to compete where they deliver the greatest grid value.

Source: PV Magazine