Europe has never been as reliant on the Sun as it is now.
According to Ember, the energy sector think tank, more than 25% of the EU’s electricity came from solar panels in June this year.
But what would happen if the Sun were to suddenly stop shining, or the continent’s solar farms were to all stop working?
However unlikely these hypothetical situations may be, yesterday’s historic solar eclipse provided Europe with the perfect opportunity to test how it might respond.
ENTSO-E, the body representing Europe's 40 transmission system operators across 36 countries, had forecast that solar generation could fall by almost 10GW under clear skies, with the change concentrated between 19:15 and 21:30 CEST.
