I keep hearing that solar energy will never be able to compete with oil, coal and other fossil fuels.
It’s certainly true that we are still at the early stages of harnessing the wonderful free bounty of the sun.
Unlike plants which use photosynthesis, we haven’t spent billions of years evolving ways to harvest and store all that lovely  energy. Oil and coal have been exploited relatively recently, with improvements over the years.  We’re not (yet) at that stage with solar and other renewable energy options.
But solar has made tremendous strides – and there doesn’t seem to be much media coverage of it. So let’s redress the balance with these solar facts:
- New methods are continually producing solar cells that perform better than before, and even the cheaper thin-film cells are improving.
- The price of a single watt of solar has dropped a massive 95 percent in the past 30 years. In other words, what cost you around $20 in 1980 is now just over $1. (What else do you know that doesn’t cost more than it did 30 years ago?).
- Solar is now considerably more affordable than ever before. Pay-back terms used to be 10 – 15 years. Now, depending on where you live, it can be as little as 2 years. Saving the planet will save you money too!
- For the first time, renewable energy companies are looking like good options for long-term investments.
- Storing solar power has long been a problem – it’s great while the sun shines, but we need power on cloudy days too. New developments in battery technology will not only reduce costs for large solar users, but should also be able to provide back-up power to the grid during black-outs.
- Five countries now generate more than 10 gigawatts of solar energy – Germany, Italy, China,USA and Japan.
- A $200 million solar project in Prieska, South Africa has been approved, which will provide enough power for 45,000 people. The energy will be sold to South Africa’s largest utility, Eskom Holdings, which currently provides 95 percent of the country’s energy. Of course it’s a tiny proportion of the energy needed, but it’s a step in the right direction. There’s huge solar potential in South Africa due to the amount of sun it receives. It’s a similar situation throughout Africa, and currently access to electricity is limited for many people across the continent, so it can only improve!
So, next time someone tells you renewables won’t catch on, tell them the good news!
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Despite living in a relatively unsunny UK, solar even has potential here and I agree with your assessment of the industry and where it is going. It won’t be too long before solar is cheaper than fossil fuels across much of the planet and not just in the sunnier climes.
If you’d told me when I was growing up in very un-sunny Ireland that solar would be good there I’d have laughed, but absolutely it does. In fact, a solar engineer told me that solar panels actually operate slightly LESS efficiently in hot climates, but this is offset by the longer hours of pure sunlight in terms of overall power generation. I’m looking forward to solar becoming a real and viable player in the energy industry, and hopefully it won’t be long now. Thanks for your comment!
Great article Clare! I am surprised that climate change deniers have not already spammed the comments on this article. My college has been experimenting with solar water heaters over the past few years and are now installing them all across campus. I agree that PV is getting better but I am going to hold out a little longer until the efficiency increases some more and cost comes down a bit more. Still quite expensive in Florida.
LOL, good point! That’s very good news about your college. Isn’t it funny that solar is still expensive in sunny Florida? It’s still tough here on this little island, but the payback time has certainly decreased, and solar-powered water heaters are very common here, there’s one on almost every roof. Thanks for your comment!