Smoke is a common part of life in many parts of the West, raising the question of how much wildfires can affect solar power. A new academic paper has some insights.

Unsurprisingly, research shows that when thick, towering plumes of smoke blot out the sun over solar facilities, their production can drop significantly.

“However, when you then start to expand and look at a longer distance … we see that those losses start to drop off relatively quickly,” said Kimberley Corwin, a postdoctoral fellow at Colorado State University and lead author of the paper recently published in Nature Communications.

Once you’re in an area impacted just by transported smoke, monthly solar generation will fall by “about 5%, or potentially less,” she said, adding later that the team was “excited” by the results.

“Because initially we weren't necessarily expecting that the reductions, particularly from this transported smoke, would be so modest,” she explained.

But shorter term, substantial drops when big plumes are nearby can still be significant, she acknowledged. For solar plants and other large installations, she said the issue highlights the ability of battery storage to provide “additional stability.”

This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.