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Nr. 28

Can solar and wind + batteries really provide 24/7/365 electricity?

Examining the realities of a solar and wind + battery system

Dr. Lars Schernikau

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Calling a spade a spade – let’s be honest…<br>Reliability of solar and wind WITHOUT storage…<br>What difference does battery storage make?<br>Is the utility-scale batteries solution really clean and elegant?<br>Critical thinking is supported by questioning…<br>Summary<br>Links, and resources

If someone told you they had discovered a cheaper way to power your home, you would naturally expect your bills to be reduced… right?<br>But then, before you could switch, they tell you to buy another heating system, install a large battery in the garage, replace much of your electrical wiring, and keep the old setup ready as a backup? (I call it “other things” or “ancillary systems”)? Latest at that point, you would probably start asking yourself… if all of that extra equipment is necessary, is the new option really less expensive? And then… how long does this equipment last?<br>This same question extends well beyond individual households!<br>Energy sits behind almost everything we do. It powers our lights, heats our homes, keeps hospitals running, extracts mined and grown resources for our survival, moves goods around the world and enables the running of factories that produce the products we buy every day.<br>This is the reason the cost of electricity does not just stay on your electricity bill. It eventually filters through into food prices, manufacturing costs, transport costs, your taxes and, ultimately, the cost of living.<br>We are repeatedly been told that solar and wind + batteries systems are becoming so inexpensive that they can provide reliable electricity around the clock, even competing with conventional coal, gas, hydro, and nuclear power plants… but is this a realistic “idea”? because to date, it is only an idea… 😉<br>End April 2026 IRENA went public with a 60 page report  titled 24 / 7 Renewables – the Economics of firm Wind and Solar [1] claiming that “It indicates that co-located solar photovoltaics (PV) and onshore wind systems with battery energy storage systems (BESS) can reliably and cost-effectively provide round-the-clock electricity in favorable resource conditions”.

The report was quickly picked up by major media outlets, leading to headlines such as [2]:<br>Bloomberg: “Fossil Fuels No Longer Offer Security. Clean Energy Can”<br>Financial Times: “The Dawn of 24/7 Solar Power”

In 2025, solar, wind, and utility-scale battery installations were added to global grids reaching record levels. (see table 1) For example, by end of 2025, solar’s installed capacity of about 2.8 TW (generating 8% of global electricity) surpassing coal’s installed capacity of about 2 TW (generating over 1/3rd of all global electricity while also providing energy for industrial heat applications).<br>Please note capacity versus generation, 😉 for more information on additions and capacities for solar and wind + batteries for storage (not including EVs) click here<br>While annual solar additions may have started to decline in 2026 [3], the overall solar, wind + battery build out is still happening at almost unimaginable speed.<br>If the statement about low cost 24/7 solar and wind + batteries by IRENA is true, why is power demand not being met and why are electricity prices skyrocketing? Can solar and wind + batteries really provide reliable electricity around the clock?<br>To answer these questions, we first need to understand what it actually takes to turn weather dependent electricity into reliable, useful electricity.

Figure 1: Can solar and wind + batteries really provide 24/7/365 electricity?

Calling a spade a spade – let’s be honest…

The IRENA writes that solar and wind + batteries will give you flat and firm “round-the-clock” “renewable” energy. The agency makes use of the large UAE Al Dhafra 5.2 GW solar-PV-project that boasts 19 GWh of battery storage, [4] as an example claiming this project could supply 1 GW of “firm clean power”.<br>Please note: in this case, to achieve its claim, the project combines an overbuild of 5.2x with an assumed 19 hours of storage, all in order to achieve the claimed “firmness” of 1 GW from solar photovoltaic.<br>On page 52 [1] there is another interesting caveat explaining that “IRENA’s reliability definition" … differs from standard power system reliability concepts , which typically focus on adequacy (the continuous ability to meet peak demand) and security (resilience against sudden disturbances)”.<br>So, in other words we are to understand that this modeling does not mean real-life 24/7 electricity reliability the way you and I or grid engineers would understand it.

There is another caveat that should raise eyebrows: “… the flat output profile underpinning this cost metric is a modelling...