Daily guide · SE2 · 2026-08-20
What solar actually earned per MWh in Sweden Sundsvall 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 Sundsvall earned an average capture price of 53,66 EUR/MWh this week, against a baseload of 51,90 EUR/MWh, for an average capture rate of 1,01. That balance is unusual: across the seven days, solar tracked the market almost exactly rather than trading at the discount typical of higher-penetration zones. With peak solar output at or near zero on six of seven days, and just 0,1 GW on 17 August, the small volumes here move with wholesale prices rather than depressing them.
The spread across days is what stands out. Capture ran below baseload early in the week, bottoming at 7,86 EUR/MWh on 16 August against 8,31 EUR/MWh baseload, then flipped to a premium. On 18 and 19 August, capture reached 87,18 and 137,21 EUR/MWh, with rates of 1,15 and 1,09, above baseload of 75,86 and 125,49 EUR/MWh.
The takeaway: in Sundsvall this week, solar capture was driven by price levels, not by cannibalisation. With negligible installed output, an average rate of 1,01 tells you solar is still a price-taker that closely follows the market here.
Solar has a pricing problem it created itself: every panel in SE2 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:
53.66
€/MWh solar capture price this week (generation-weighted)
51.9
€/MWh baseload average — the number the brochure quotes
101%
capture rate — what solar keeps of the average price
Day by day
| Day | Capture €/MWh | Baseload €/MWh | Capture rate | Peak solar |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-08-13 | 68.79 | 79.2 | 87% | 0 GW |
| 2026-08-14 | 38.04 | 38.21 | 100% | 0 GW |
| 2026-08-15 | 18.99 | 20.32 | 93% | 0 GW |
| 2026-08-16 | 7.86 | 8.31 | 95% | 0 GW |
| 2026-08-17 | 17.58 | 15.91 | 111% | 0.1 GW |
| 2026-08-18 | 87.18 | 75.86 | 115% | 0 GW |
| 2026-08-19 | 137.21 | 125.49 | 109% | 0 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/SE2?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-se2-2026-08-20".
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