This week, Photon Magazine posted a newsletter about how much of an impact the solar power market is having on the price of electricity in Germany. The article is posted in German; however an English version is here. The Photon authors point out that compared to four years ago, the price of power drops dramatically during the middle of the day. In fact, the cost of electricity drops so much that it comes close to being as cheap as power at 4 A.M., when most of the country is sleeping and using very little.

The effect of such surplus power during the day can be seen in the Photon data, as the overall price of power has increased, despite the electrical load requirements of Germany remaining roughly the same. It’s apparent that the German conventional utility companies are starting to feel squeeze of their profits diminishing.

According to a different article, Australia is taking a few lessons from the German example, causing Australian utility companies to pucker in anticipation of their profits also dwindling.