Canada’s 2023 wildfire smoke caused a 2.8 percent drop in solar power generation, costing two billion dollars

The record-breaking 2023 Canadian wildfires led to extreme emissions of aerosols, with plumes extending across the Northern Hemisphere. This study highlights the potential impact of such emissions on photovoltaic energy production across North America and Europe using a state-of-the-art Earth system model. Our results show substantial radiative and temperature anomalies during May–September 2023, with radiative impacts leading to a total 5-monthly modelled photovoltaic production deficit of −6.38 ± 8.86 terawatt hours (one standard deviation) across North America and Europe (2.8% of total 5-monthly photovoltaic generation). The carbon burden of this solar power production loss is estimated at 2.083 ± 2.656 megatons of carbon dioxide (one standard deviation), with a total economic deficit of 1.88 ± 2.71 billion US dollars (one standard deviation). Despite greater North America modelled photovoltaic losses, the associated monetary deficit is higher in Europe. These findings emphasise that resilience of photovoltaic production can be challenged by large-scale wildfire events, highlighting the need for integrated transnational and intercontinental strategies in climate mitigation, energy security, and wildfire prevention.