Solar PV Costs Predicted To Halve By 2020

Renewable energy sources are increasingly taking centre stage these days, pushing fossil fuels into the background more and more. And it seems as though they’re going to be prioritised even more in the future, with a new report showing that costs for solar photovoltaic (PV) systems are expected to halve come the year 2020.

The cost analysis, put together by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), reveals that onshore wind generation costs have also dropped by about a quarter since 2010. And it’s thought that some onshore wind and solar projects could be providing electricity for three cents per kilowatt hour or less in just two short years.

Perhaps even more interestingly, other types of renewable power generation (like hydropower, geothermal or bioenergy) have competed head to head on costs in the last year with the power delivered by fossil fuels.

Adnan Amin, IRENA director-general, commented: “Turning to renewables for new power generation is not simply an environmentally conscious decision, it is now – overwhelmingly – a smart economic one. Governments around the world are recognizing this potential and forging ahead with low-carbon economic agendas underpinned by renewables-based energy systems.”

This comes after the National Grid revealed that last year was in fact the greenest year on record for the UK with regards to electricity production. In all, 13 clean energy records were broken in 2017, driven in large part by the increase in renewable energy in the country.

Excitingly, we even went for an entire day using electricity provided without coal power – the first time this has happened since the industrial revolution!

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