Solar Passes Coal in U.K.

Another milestone for solar power: May was the first month in which the U.K. generated more solar electricity than coal electricity. Coal has fallen into such disfavor that there were moments when all of the country’s coal plants were shut down. That’s something that had never happened since the initial phase of electrification in the late 1800s. At the same time, the past fall and winter’s solar installations benefited from the longer days of spring. Solar is tipped as the replacement for coal on the electrical grid, but it’s clear that coal would be fading even if solar power did not exist.