Germany sets an amazing energy record on Saturday, leaves us in a haze..

On Saturday the 26th of May 2012, during the peak sun hours of midday, Germany got 50% of it's energy from solar panels feeding the grid.   Europe's cloudy foggy industrial powerhouse, socialist Germany where anyone can go to the doctor,  produced from solar panels 22 GW of electricity per hour, equal to 20 nuclear power stations running at full capacity.  Done without risk of radioactive tuna escaping to our shores, no oil spills, no black clouds of smoke, no coal trains.

I have been to Germany many times, last time 5 years ago.  I saw their solar panels in pastures, sheep and cattle still live there nibbling grass from around and under the panels, Some German farmers now have double income, livestock and electrons.

This 50% figure did not include the wind energy they were using Saturday, which is substantial, and it did not include small businesses and homes with solar panels, a more common home improvement than in the US. It's clear the total renewables used midday Saturday was well above half, and they are still adding capacity.  Currently the overall 24 hour solar input in Germany is near 5%, and by Saturday noon many industrial users are pulling very little from the grid, still this was a milestone of significant importance, a fantastic demonstration of a working and growing system.  Recently a Germany politician marveled at what they are creating as they move to modern energy systems and said the only reason they can do this while the US and Canada cannot is because Germany doesn't have the Koch Brothers.