Here in late-Summer, 2025, Texas is smashing solar energy harvesting and production records. This new data brings good news –AND it highlights a new challenge for our grid. Keep reading…

Recent ERCOT data shows solar output now regularly approaching 29,000–30,000 MW during sunny midday hours. In terms everybody can understand, that’s enough harvested energy to power over 5 million homes at once and more than 40 % of ERCOT’s total demand. (Canary Media)

At the same time, Texas battery systems are setting their own milestones -regularly discharging late afternoon loads of over 7,000 MW for the first time this summer. This stored solar energy helped shift some of that midday solar harvested energy to use for evening peaks, typically peak grid consumption here in Texas during the summertime. (ERCOT Monthly Report – July-August 2025)

But here’s the catch: without enough (more!!) investment in energy storage and distribution infrastructure (upgraded power lines), much of that clean energy is still wasted (curtailed) -and price volatility stays uncomfortably high. This is why home and business storage is quickly becoming the next big thing. Yep that’s right. There is excess potential solar-harvetsed energy capacity that simply goes unused and essentially “disappears” without enough realtime grid-scale distribution and added BESS (battery energy storage) capacity. 

We’ve covered the state of our grid in previous posts – click here for more insights

For the sake of quick reading, we’ll keep the rest of this blog entry in easy to consume bullet points…

The Scale of the Solar Boom – Some Stats

• Installed solar capacity across ERCOT now stands at roughly 32.7 GW -more than double what Texas had in 2022.

• On September 9, solar generation provided 40 %+ of all power for hours at a time, beating previous records.

• Batteries discharged a record 7,152 MW on July 30 -effectively running the equivalent of 7 full-sized natural gas plants purely from stored energy.

Why (and how) Solar and Wind Energy Curtailment Is a Problem
When generation outstrips demand or transmission capacity, ERCOT must “curtail” solar -forcing plants to dial back production.

• On some days, up to 20 % of available solar is curtailed. (Utility Dive)

• Curtailment wastes potential energy that could power hundreds of thousands of homes.

• It also drives prices toward zero or even negative  -meaning producers get paid little for midday power, which can slow further investment.

How Storage Changes the Game
Storage captures surplus solar when it’s cheap or being curtailed and redeploys it when demand (and prices) are high -often during the early evening peak.

• A recent arXiv study shows that scaling utility-scale batteries can reduce curtailment dramatically, improve grid stability, and cut emissions by displacing gas peaker plants.

• Distributed storage (home + business batteries) adds resilience, supports local feeders, and can be aggregated into “virtual power plants” which ERCOT and several co-ops are actively piloting.

What This Means for Homeowners & Businesses

• Lower Bills: Store cheap solar at midday, use it in the evening when rates peak.

• Resilience: Batteries keep your lights, fridge, and devices running during outages.

• Financial Edge: With the 30 % ITC still available, it’s one of the best times to add storage -costs are falling and incentives are strong.

• Future-Proofing: More utilities are exploring time-of-use pricing and demand charges (and VPPs!) -batteries help avoid those surcharges and can lower grid reliance.

Final Thoughts

Solar (and wind!) harvesting are undoubtedly going mainstream in Texas -but to make it truly work great into the future for everyone, we need storage at every level: home, business, community, and utility.

If you’ve been considering adding a battery to your solar system -or going solar + storage from day one- now is the time to act while incentives remain. Contact NATiVE Solar to speak with a consultant today.