Sunny summer sees Europe hit new solar power high

BERLIN (AP) — A new report says long periods of sunshine took solar power generation in Europe to a record high this summer that helped reduce the need for gas imports. Energy think tank Ember said Thursday that the European Union generated 12% of its electricity from solar power from May to August, up from 9% during the same period last year. Electricity generated from photovoltaic installations narrowly topped the share provided from wind or hydropower, while coming in just below that produced from burning coal. Ember said that without the 99.4 terrawatt hours of electricity provided by solar, the EU would have had to buy 20 billion cubic meters of gas, costing about $29 billion during the four-month period.