Daily guide · IT-SICI · 2026-09-10
What solar actually earned per MWh in Italy Sicily 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 Sicily earned an average capture price of 189,22 EUR/MWh this week, against a baseload of 220,88 EUR/MWh. That puts the average capture rate at 0,85, meaning solar sold at roughly 85 percent of the round-the-clock market price. For a technology that concentrates its output into the middle of the day, that is a comparatively firm result.
The week split into two halves. The weekend of 5 and 6 September was the weak stretch, with capture rates of 0,75 and 0,77 and capture prices dropping to 158,58 and 160,49 EUR/MWh. From 7 September onward the picture improved sharply, closing at a capture rate of 0,94 on 9 September, when solar earned 209,13 EUR/MWh against a baseload of 221,37. Peak solar output held steady at 2,1 to 2,2 GW throughout, so the swing came from price conditions, not volume.
The takeaway: capture strength this week was driven by demand and price timing rather than fluctuating solar supply. Watch the weekday-versus-weekend gap, where lower demand pulled midday capture rates down by roughly 15 points.
Solar has a pricing problem it created itself: every panel in IT-SICI 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:
189.22
€/MWh solar capture price this week (generation-weighted)
220.88
€/MWh baseload average — the number the brochure quotes
85%
capture rate — what solar keeps of the average price
Day by day
| Day | Capture €/MWh | Baseload €/MWh | Capture rate | Peak solar |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-03 | 194.06 | 217.41 | 89% | 2.2 GW |
| 2026-09-04 | 190.47 | 226.99 | 84% | 2.1 GW |
| 2026-09-05 | 158.58 | 210.18 | 75% | 2.2 GW |
| 2026-09-06 | 160.49 | 207.91 | 77% | 2.1 GW |
| 2026-09-07 | 205 | 227.94 | 90% | 2.2 GW |
| 2026-09-08 | 206.79 | 234.34 | 88% | 2.2 GW |
| 2026-09-09 | 209.13 | 221.37 | 94% | 2.2 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/IT-SICI?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-it-sici-2026-09-10".
Next issue 2 Oct
The European power roundup. Once a month. Real numbers.
Negative-price records, the month's widest spreads, the zones we failed to forecast — computed from the same production recorders as the API. No filler. Unsubscribe in one click.
- ✓ Negative hours and the cheapest zones
- ✓ The month's widest day-ahead spreads
- ✓ Forecastability ranking — where we missed
Get the next issue in your inbox.
No account. Double opt-in. Nothing else, ever. Privacy.