Smoke from wildfires in California caused solar-powered generation in the state to nosedive last month as airborne particles blocked out sunlight, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).
In the first two weeks of September, average solar generation in the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) area, which covers 90% of utility-scale solar capacity in the state, declined nearly 30% from the July 2020 average.
Compared with the same two weeks last year, solar generation in CAISO was 13.4% lower, despite the state having added 659MW of utility-scale solar capacity, an increase of 5.3%.
