Rapidly falling costs for battery storage are allowing countries to store surplus electricity generated by solar panels during the day for use at night, according to the authors of the newly released report. This shift is turning solar energy from a intermittent resource into a reliable power source available at any hour, effectively decoupling clean energy generation from the position of the sun.
The report states that “battery pack prices for stationary storage applications fell to a record low of USD 70/kWh in 2025, a 45% drop from 2024.” This cost reduction means that “batteries are emerging as a key flexibility technology, shifting cheap daytime solar into non-sunny hours,” thereby enabling solar power to meet demand even in the dark.
In simple terms, solar panels produce the most electricity in the middle of the day, often creating more than people need at that moment. Because the equipment used to store this energy has become much less expensive, it is now practical to save that extra power in large batteries rather than letting it go to waste. This stored energy can then be released into the grid during the evening when demand is high but the sun isn’t shining, allowing solar to do the job that used to require burning fossil fuels like coal or gas.
The report “Global Electricity Review 2026” was published by the energy think tank Ember on April 21, 2026. Prepared by a team of researchers led by Nicolas Fulghum, the study offers a comprehensive overview of how clean energy met all global electricity demand growth over the past year.
