Solar energy is now so cheap it costs as little as €0.023 to produce one unit of power, a new study has found.
Solar energy has been branded the “key driver” in the world’s transition to clean, renewable power due to its ultra-low cost. A new study from the University of Surrey named solar energy the cheapest source of power, outranking other renewables such as wind, as well as coal and gas. Researchers found that, in the sunniest countries, solar costs as little as €0.023 to produce one unit of power. Even in the UK, which sits 50 degrees north of the equator and is infamous for its dreary weather, solar came out victorious as the cheapest option for “large-scale energy generation”. A ‘reliable’ source of power Due to the price of lithium-ion batteries falling by 89 per cent since 2010, the study also found that making solar-plus-storage systems is now equally as cost-effective as gas power plants. “These hybrid setups, which combine solar panels with batteries, are now standard in many regions and allow solar energy to be stored and released when needed, turning it into a more reliable, dispatchable source of power that helps balance grid demand,” the study explains.
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FTR, dispatchable energy is energy that can be released (from batteries) at the request of grid operators.