How Solar Energy Is Taking Over the U.S.

By Travis Hoium

A decade ago, the industry was almost nonexistent in the U.S. There was a large thermal power plant in the Mojave Desert that was completed in 1984; but between then and around 2008, there was almost no activity in the U.S.

That all changed as costs quickly dropped for solar , and prices fell. Today, solar power plants are competing with fossil fuels on a cost-per-kW-hr basis to provide to the grid, and homeowners are now beginning to create their own power from the sun. Quickly, solar is taking over the country.

Solar costs continue to drop like a rock
The biggest reason why is growing is because it is cost competitive with other energy sources. The chart below shows how fast system installation costs have fallen during the past four years, lowering ’s cost to below grid parity in sunny or high-energy-cost regions.

solar cost chart large

Check Also

home sun score

Everything You Need to Know About Your Home’s Sun Score

___________________________________________________________________________ Society’s understanding and value of global environmental sustainability has increased over the past few …

Leave a Reply