Daily guide · CZ · 2026-07-24
What solar actually earned per MWh in Czechia this week
All numbers computed from the week's published auction results at publication and frozen — this article is an honest snapshot, not a page that rewrites itself. Reproduce via the API.
Solar in Czechia captured an average of 66,54 EUR/MWh this week, against an average baseload of 109,45 EUR/MWh. That works out to a capture rate of 0,58, meaning solar earned roughly 58 percent of the day's average price. The spread between the best and worst days was wide: capture ranged from 121,35 EUR/MWh on 17 July down to 24,26 EUR/MWh on 19 July.
The pattern is worth reading closely. The strongest day, 17 July, paired a high capture with a 0,85 rate despite peak solar output of 2,5 GW. The two weakest days, 18 and 19 July, saw rates collapse to 0,33 and 0,31, with the 19th also showing the lowest peak output at 1,8 GW. Weak capture here tracks low absolute prices rather than heavy solar cannibalisation alone, since baseload on those days fell to 90,47 and 78,55 EUR/MWh.
The concrete takeaway: capture rate this week was driven more by the overall price level than by peak solar volume. On low-price days such as 19 July, holding output for later dispatch would have protected far more value than chasing midday generation.
Solar has a pricing problem it created itself: every panel in CZ produces at the same hours, so the more the fleet generates, the lower the price each MWh fetches. The number that captures this is the capture price — the generation-weighted price solar actually earned — and the capture rate, that price as a share of the plain average. Brochures quote the average; revenue arrives at the capture price. This week, measured on real generation and auction data:
66.54
€/MWh solar capture price this week (generation-weighted)
109.45
€/MWh baseload average — the number the brochure quotes
58%
capture rate — what solar keeps of the average price
Day by day
| Day | Capture €/MWh | Baseload €/MWh | Capture rate | Peak solar |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-07-17 | 121.35 | 142.3 | 85% | 2.5 GW |
| 2026-07-18 | 30.27 | 90.47 | 33% | 2.3 GW |
| 2026-07-19 | 24.26 | 78.55 | 31% | 1.8 GW |
| 2026-07-20 | 66.85 | 114.02 | 59% | 2.7 GW |
| 2026-07-21 | 82.93 | 121.33 | 68% | 2.4 GW |
| 2026-07-22 | 59.46 | 101.59 | 59% | 2.5 GW |
| 2026-07-23 | 80.66 | 117.91 | 68% | 2 GW |
Capture = Σ(hourly price × solar MW) / Σ(solar MW), from realized generation (ENTSO-E A75) and published auction results. Sunny days push the rate DOWN — that's the cannibalization.
Why this number runs businesses
If you're valuing a PPA, sizing a solar+storage project, or hedging merchant exposure, the capture
rate — not the average price — is your revenue line. One week is weather noise; the trend is the
signal: GET /v1/capture/CZ?technology=solar&months=24
returns two years of monthly capture prices and rates, and
POST /v1/ppa/value backcasts a pay-as-produced PPA at your strike.
Both are on the Scale tier (Pro gets a teaser);
battery owners can flip the same effect into revenue — see the
battery arbitrage guide for what the storage side earned this week.
Method & citation. Prices are hourly means of published day-ahead auction results (native 15-minute periods averaged; ENTSO-E/SMARD, attributed). Wholesale-price component only — grid fees and taxes come on top and vary by supplier. Cite as "Voltcast Research, voltcast.com/guides/solar-capture-cz-2026-07-24".
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