Why We Should Be Excited For Solar Despite Drop In Investments

Solar energy has had a topsy-turvy ride the past couple of years. Worldwide capacity has grown exponentially over since 1992. New installations in 2018 are also estimated to have added around 100 gigawatts to the global grid pushing total capacity to over 500 GW. 
Despite this, the space saw investments decline by 24 percent in 2018. A key reason behind this was China’s shift in policies that cut support for domestic solar installations. Since China has emerged to be the top market and manufacturer of photovoltaic (PV) panels in recent years, such developments inevitably reverberate throughout the industry. Panel manufacturers may have to look to other markets to move their supply.
Yet, solar should remain an attractive industry for both investors and consumers to support or, in the very least, watch. Solar has been the more promising segment in renewable and clean energy compared to wind and wave. 
According to David Trainavicius, CEO of solar venture PVCase, "The world’s increasingly opening up to renewable and sustainable energy. Despite some moves by certain governments, more countries have started to incentivize the shift away from fossil fuels and nuclear energy sources. At the consumer level, demand for electric vehicles are rising and what better way to support all this than through renewable energy sources? Solar installations have become very affordable and quite efficient thanks to innovations across the supply chain."

Innovations in PV

For solar to truly gain traction in wide scale adoption, the market must also realize that there have been numerous innovations in solar and PV technologies. Solar cell and panel design have greatly improved over the years. Solar cells are now more efficient, less bulky, and cheaper to install. Bifacial modules – which can produce power from either side of the panel – allows for more flexible and creative installation.
New hardware, like solar windows, can maximize the available surfaces of structures and are gaining momentum in the market. Innovations such as solar paint, which can virtually convert any surface into a solar panel at a fraction of the cost of conventional PV, are also expected to be game-changers once successfully commercialized.
Engineers and installers are also getting a boost from technology. Design tools like PVCase are now available to solar engineers. These could help them plan projects more capably. Features such as design task automation and 3D topographical layouts help engineers design solar parks much more quickly, even gaining up to 10 percent better precision in cabling and yield.
Better hardware and engineering capabilities could only help drive down costs for commercial and residential adopters further.

Reframing the View of Costs

Unfortunately, among the prevailing notions that have stymied the wider adoption of solar, especially in the consumer market concerns costs. Many still believe that solar installations are expensive and that it "makes more sense" for consumers to stick to their existing power source.
However, solar has already become quite the efficient energy source based on the cost of production. A report from Lazard indicates that the cost of generating one megawatt-hour of electricity from solar is at just $50. The same power generated from coal costs double at $102.

Image Source: Business Insider
Varun Sivaram, in his book Taming the Sun, also makes an interesting point about how solar’s costs can be unfairly viewed by technologists. He observed that solar often gets compared to other technologies such as digital devices and hardware rather than as an energy source. 
The rate at which solar’s costs have gone down pales in comparison to what computing technologies have enjoyed. For instance, the cost per gigabyte of storage dropped from hundreds of thousands of dollars in 1981 to less than $0.02 today. However, Moore’s law doesn’t apply to green technologies.
This causes some to overlook that the more relevant and apt comparison of solar power cost is with conventional electricity sources such as fossil fuels and nuclear energy. Reframing the way costs are viewed should reveal that solar now actually has a strong case to be the more economical choice.

Other Markets are Emerging

Worldwide sentiment towards renewable energy and sustainability has become even stronger. Governments are already increasing their commitments to renewable energy sources. The rise in policies that incentivize the manufacture and use of green energy would only encourage more consumers and investors to participate.
China may still be the leading market for solar energy but there are other territories are also warming up to solar. Other top markets like US, Japan, and Germany still continue to be strong markets for the technology. The solar markets in the Middle East, South America, and Asia are also on the rise, especially with countries like Chile, Mexico, India, and the UAE all betting huge on the technology.
“The solar market has been growing 34 percent yearly for the last three years and the segment could only see further growth especially as more improvements in the technology such as bifacial and building-integrated modules emerge,” Trainavicius added.
Solar, as the more established and mature renewable energy sector, is well positioned to be at the forefront of mainstream adoption. Solar stakeholders must then look towards innovating and promoting the technology in more markets.

Image sourced from Pixabay