Coal Pollution Cuts Global Solar Power Output by 5.8%

Researchers from the UK National Centre for Earth Observation, the University of Oxford, UCL and the University of Leicester used satellite observations, machine‑learning and atmospheric modelling to assess how emissions from coal‑fired power stations affect solar photovoltaic (PV) generation worldwide. Mapping more than 140,000 PV sites, they estimated that aerosol and cloud changes linked to coal plants reduced global solar electricity in 2023 by 5.8%, roughly 111 terawatt‑hours (TWh) – the output of about 18 medium‑sized coal plants.

The impact was strongest where coal plants and solar farms coexist, notably in China, which produced 793.5 TWh of solar power in 2023. There, aerosol‑related losses reached 7.7% of output, with about 29% of that loss directly attributable to coal‑plant emissions. The study argues that the success of the renewable‑energy transition should be measured not only by installed capacity but also by air‑quality and fossil‑fuel interactions, as continued coal use imposes a hidden efficiency cost on solar systems.