It seems the UK is on target to run for a full 24 hours without generating electricity from coal. Coal use has been scaled down dramatically in recent years to meet emissions regulations. It was 30% a few years ago. In some cases this means burning other things, such as biomass, but the growth in solar and wind must be a big factor.
This site shows the current breakdown and coal is on zero there. Wind is 15%, just below nuclear. Probably not a lot coming from solar today as it's overcast, but there are lots of huge solar farms that have been built in the last few years. I know nuclear is relatively carbon neutral, but the costs are massive, for building, running and disposal. We should also continue to reduce usage.
Things are improving. Of course there are millions of petrol and diesel cars out there, but electric cars are becoming more common. I know those require electricity, but they may help smooth out demand with smart charging and storage.
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There have been so many new technologies that are related to solar and wind making it cheaper and easier to harness the electricity.
https://solarwindow.com/ is an example of this technology. Simply amazing.
You would hope that new buildings would include such features as standard as well as being far more efficient, but change takes time. Solar prices have dropped massively in recent years, but then some governments have reduced their support for renewables.
I know here in the US a lot of the solar investments have gone terribly wrong. {Solyndra}
I know Elon Musk is working on many projects related to solar with SolarCity.
There will be some that are badly managed and where they just want a quick buck, but the technology is improving rapidly. It's a relatively young industry that may have grown too quickly and there will be mistakes.
Great news, a sign of things to come in the near future, i hope.
Great, a day without coal power. Wind and solar are gaining in awareness of their usefulness and new ideas are coming forth i.e. a large number of micro-generators mounted on a tree like structure and positioned in open grassy areas between buildings, adding power to the grid.