More than 40 years ago, President Jimmy Carterinstalled solar panelson the roof of the White House.
With the dramatic growth ofsolar energyin recent years, the technology has certainly become much more than a curiosity.
It’s starting to live up to its promise of clean, cheap, abundant power.
It was a symbol of what that represented.
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So what gives, and when will the tide turn?
Electricity costs continue to trend up
It’s pretty cheap to turn solar energy into electricity.
But it doesn’t feel like energy is cheap when theelectric billarrives.
That increase wasn’t universal, depending on the state, thanks to wildly different policies and economic factors.
At the same time, we’re harvesting more clean electricitythan ever before.
The problem: We still don’t have enough of that cheap renewable energy.
Meanwhile, the portion of our electricity that comes from renewables is getting cheaper all the time.
“2022 is a stark example of just how economically viable new renewable power generation has become.
Ganesan, whose company develops thermal battery technology, credits technological development for getting us to this point.
“Theefficiency of solar panelsis just significantly better at this point,” he said.
“The output of a solar panel is now highly efficient.
And the same is true for wind.”
Who should pay for the energy transition?
Instead, Americans feel the burden of the energy transition should fall more heavily on the energy industry.
When will renewables bring down energy prices?
Experts hope we’re not far away, and momentum is on their side.
“That reduction in cost will eventually kind of ladder up into cost savings for consumers.
And we’re about at that inflection point now.”
One of the factors affecting clean energy is upfront cost.
Fromsolar panel installationtoelectric vehicles, the promise ofreturn on investmentcan be a tough sell.
But as that upfront cost decreases with better technology, the pitch becomes an easier one.
But public sentiment has improved dramatically.”
And for all of these electricity uses, one thing is certain: Stability is a good thing.
“That’s where cost comes from: unstable energy and unstable demands.”
