Technology @beehaw.org clumsy_cat @beehaw.org 8 mo. ago

Solar is now ‘cheapest electricity in history’, confirms IEA (International Energy Agency) (from 2020)

www.carbonbrief.org Solar is now ‘cheapest electricity in history’, confirms IEA

The world’s best solar power schemes now offer the “cheapest…electricity in history” with the technology cheaper than coal and gas in most major countries.

38 comments

Am I wrong or is this article 3 years old?
- true! i updated the title
its still costing me 30k AUD to put in a decent solar and battery system, i mean prices have come down but they are still well beyond what is affordable by the avg person.
- and battery system
  
  That's the catch. The generation isn't the expensive part. The storage is.
  
  That's the thing, without the Battery it's not cost effective, we'll pay more for the system then it would recover. Our peak usage is at night when the sun is not there.
- I paid $5k recently without the battery - it's not just affordable, it's cheaper than drawing power from the grid. Pay off on the upfront investment will be about 7 years and it has an expected life of 30+ years (we paid extra for long lasting panels).
  
  Battery prices will come down - in the mean time it's still better to just get that power from the grid.
  
  Must be nice
- I'm curious what sized system you are putting in that costs that much.
  
  An 8kw solar system usually costs a bit over $8k and at least in many areas seems to have a ROI of a bit over 6 years at most and often much less.
  
  6.2kwh solar panels 14kwh battery
Sweet! Those panels I paid so dearly for are worth next to nothing!
- Not only is that a complete misunderstanding of the word cheap in the context of the article, but the statement makes so little sense that I sincerely doubt you actually own solar panels. Surely someone who owns solar panels would understand how to calculate the value of having them.
  
  Coming from someone who owns them-
  
  Nah, it's not worth it.... at least, if you strictly look at "saving money" overall.
  
  ROI is on average 10-25 years, depending on your current cost of energy. The components/inverters/etc, are usually rated for 20-25 years.
  
  At least- this applies if you have a properly licensed contractor install everything. If you do everything yourself, its extremely worth it, and would achieve ROI in a decade or less.
- your own fault. get a nuclear reactor next time d'uh...
  
  Don't you hate it when you have another control by the atomic agency just because you had a little meltdown in the garden. All that because the neighbours complained that their grass became fluorescent to the cops. Silly scared people!
  
  Permanently Deleted
Ok, but hear me out, we can make atoms go boooooom so what about that???

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