A solar array is seen Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023, at the Blue Jay solar and storage plant in Iola.

A photovoltaic cell is shown at Elin Energy’s solar panel manufacturing facility in Brookshire, TX. Elin Energy joined 50 other Texas solar companies in sending a letter to Congress urging protection of federal clean energy tax credits.

Jupiter Power’s battery storage complex is seen, Friday, Aug. 16, 2024, in Houston. The energy developer recently brought online the city’s first energy storage complex.

Texas temperatures are rising, and so is the demand for electricity. But the grid is holding up great, thanks to record amounts of solar and battery-stored energy.

At noon on July 29, solar facilities generated 29,275 megawatts of electricity, meeting more than 40% of the state’s demand, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas reported. That was enough electricity for 5.8 million homes.

When Texans turned on their TVs the next night, large-scale batteries set a record by discharging 7,000 megawatts of power, the nonprofit grid operator reported. Batteries provided enough electricity for 1.4 million homes.

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The batteries bridged the critical 8 p.m. hour, between when the sun goes down and nighttime winds kick up.

The all-time record for electricity demand in ERCOT was 85,508 megawatts on Aug. 10, 2023. That summer, ERCOT made eight emergency calls for conservation to reduce demand before mandatory power cuts became necessary.

This August, ERCOT expects Texas to use even more electricity, but no one is........

© Houston Chronicle