In 2004, the global natural gas and oil industry are around a $5 trillion business. It’s quite a big money. In the United States, 67% of the electricity generated in the year 2016 was from fossil fuels such as petroleum, natural gas, and coal.
This is about to change.
Solar Power in the Next 5 Years
In the next 5 years and more, there’s a chance of 50 to 100 percent that the world energy production will be dependent on solar energy. We are on the edge of a solar evolution where the efficiency of solar cells rise dramatically, costs plummet and the incentive for a widespread adoption is compelling.
In the past few years, solar power was known as the fastest-growing source for new energy around the world, outperforming the growth in all other forms of energy sources for the first time and is the leading one to hail a “new era”.
According to International Energy Agency, alternative or renewable energy sources catered more than half of new power added to the world’s grid in the year 2016, however, they found out that solar was the technology which shone the brightest.
New solar capacity even surpassed the net growth in coal which is previously the biggest source of power generation. The shift was driven by government policies and the falling prices, specifically in China, which accounted for around half the solar panels installed.
Here’s how Solar Power can dominate growth in the next 5 years:
1. Costs Are Dropping
In the past 30 years, prices of solar modules have fallen around a hundred times over. In just the past 5 years, the average price has been cut in half, and this cut will continue on for the next 5 years. This is because there is still plenty of room for efficiency improvements and there are still economies of scale needed to be achieved.
2. Soft Costs Are Coming Down Too
“Hard costs” of solar modules and solar cells are only part of the cost story. There are also “soft costs” like company overhead, permitting, customer acquisition and financing to deal with. These usually need very mature markets in order to really fall.
In most developed as well as developing countries, such costs have a lot of room to come to drop. On the financing side, solar power is just now becoming a “safe”, high-return investment in most banks.
Solar permitting systems will be smooth as going solar gets more familiar and popular to permitting organizations, On the customer acquisition side, the needs for advertising can dramatically fall since more people are exposed to solar and the “word-of-mouth” advertising grows.
Overhead costs for each customer will also come down as companies grow and other soft costs will eventually follow the same pattern.
3. Power To The People
Historically speaking, power plants have been expensive, gigantic and centralized projects. Solar is different. It can be modular and can be as small or large as you want. This means that people can own and have control over their own “power plant” which definitely appeals to most people.
Solar has this democratizing effect on the energy system and releases individuals from utility monopolies and huge payments. It offers self-reliance and independence that most people like.
4. Demand Is Higher Than Ever
Last year, the demand for solar power in the United States increased by 41%, making it one of the biggest alternative energy sources. Residential projects are even higher surging 60% over the last year.
In general, 4.75 gigawatts of photovoltaic panels were installed in the year 2013 which is enough to power more than 3.5 million homes. And this growth shows no sign of halting. In August, a report was issued to investors advising them to pour their money into solar stocks which are expected to soar in value over the next 3 years or so.
5. The Potential Of Solar Power Is Insane
The amount of energy that hits the Earth each and every day in the form of heat and light from the sun is insurmountable. Texas, for instance, has been a large source of oil for many decades now; however, the amount of energy in the sun that hits this place every month is greater than the energy in all of the oil that is ever pumped out of the state. See, just how impressive solar power is? And that’s just Texas, there’s also Africa and other parts of the world.
Conclusion:
Scientists discovered that the sun provides enough energy which can power the entire world— we just need to capture it. This is why solar power was born. Solar geyser systems is likely to continue dominating the domestic renewable energy industry for the next 5 years and more.