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Solar panel prices plunged 90% since 2010 as solar adoption surges
A new Scientific American report points to affordability, policy, fossil fuel leapfrogging, and finite fossil fuels behind solar becoming the cheapest form of energy.
Solar power has expanded rapidly and is now the fastest-growing form of energy production globally, with additions continuing to set year over year records, despite political headwinds toward renewables in the world’s largest economy, according to OilPrice citing coverage from Scientific American and New Scientist.
The story attributes solar’s shift from niche and costly to widely adopted to four interrelated factors: affordability, policy, fossil fuel leapfrogging, and the finite nature of fossil fuels.
It also highlights that solar panel prices have fallen about 90 percent since 2010, a drop that has helped drive sharp growth in photovoltaic installations worldwide.
As richer countries initially led capacity additions, demand growth is increasingly coming from poorer nations, where solar can be attractive in places with unreliable or limited power grids and high electricity costs, the outlet said.