Solar has been the word in clean energy for a while now, but soon it may actually start rivaling traditional energy sources when it comes to both energy potential and cost of resources.
Harvesting our cheapest and most readily available resource
When it comes to renewable resources, solar energy is definitely a dominating participant. The energy our planet receives from the sun has been powering our planet since long before electricity. It provides us with an atmosphere, ocean currents, weather patterns, plant growth, food, oxygen—everything we need to survive as a species. The sun is the most prevalent resource we have access to; it is available to us whether we decide to use it or not. However, previously, as the technology we needed to harvest the energy from the sun and transform it into electricity was still being developed, the sun, despite its abundance, was an expensive source of energy. The cost of the technology necessary to harvest the sun’s energy was hindered by the inefficiency of that technology, and was actually higher than the cost of extracting oil and natural gases from the ground, or the cost of operating a nuclear power plant. Thankfully, all that is changing.
According to the International Renewable Energy Agency, as technological developments become more advanced and efficient, the production costs for generating solar energy are beginning to fall below those of natural gas and coal-fired plants, and that means the generation of solar energy is on the rise, especially since our non-renewable energy sources, like oil and natural gas, are increasing in expense as they decrease in availability. In fact, solar electricity generation is projected to expand as much as six fold by as soon as 2030.
The facts
At the end of last year, solar plants, equipped with solar photovoltaic technology, accounted for 1.2 per cent of global energy productions; however, that percentage is quickly changing. By 2030, it has been projected that solar plants could produce between 8 and 13 per cent of global electricity production, and by 2040, solar photovoltaics could reach as high as 15 per cent.
Those figures have a lot to do with cost of production. Right now, the average cost of solar photovoltaic electricity is 13₵/kWh, which is more than coal and gas-fired plants that average around 5-10₵/kWh. However, solar photovoltaic energy prices are expected to drop, in some cases by as much as 59 percent by 2025, and that would make solar energy one of the cheapest forms of power generation. Last year, the cost of building a solar-powered electricity utility was $1.80 per watt while coal-fired power generation costs were around $3 per watt. Gas plants averaged between $1 and $1.30 per watt. However, by as early as 2025, the cost of building a solar-powered electricity utility is more likely to drop to around 79₵ per watt. Of course, the price comparison doesn’t account for any potential climb in the cost of natural gas or coal as those resources become more finite and more difficult to extract.
The projected price comparison should come as no surprise. Unlike traditional sources of energy, solar energy doesn’t cost anything to acquire—it is readily available to us on a continual basis, whether we harvest it or not. The costs associated with solar energy production are restricted to the costs of the technology needed to harness that freely accessible energy alone. It’s really no surprise that those costs are dropping as our knowledge base and technological developments are become more advanced and efficient—and as we continue to invest in the development of solar energy, we are investing more and more into a resource that promises to help strengthen our economy, too.
