Solar power is growing exponentially as a key source to meet the world's energy needs, the chief executive of a panel maker told CNBC on Friday.
Steve O'Neil, CEO at Norway-headquartered firm REC, said that was likely due to the falling cost of solar energy as a result of technological developments.
"Solar is growing exponentially is what I don't think people realize," O'Neil told CNBC at the sidelines of the Singapore Summit. "Every two years, the installation rates are doubling and so it's happening around the world now very quickly."
That was despite the fact, he said, that currently 2 percent at most of the world's electricity is supplied by converting sunlight into energy. Therefore, there's likely greater room for solar energy penetration in the market.
Reports earlier this year said the total amount of solar power added globally soared by about 50 percent in 2016 due to the United States and China. Worldwide, the solar power capacity is at 305 gigawatts, up from about 50 gigawatts in 2010.
Part of the increased adoption of solar is likely due to a reduction in the cost of converting sunlight into usable energy. Prices are expected to fall further due to scaling and cost improvement, according to O'Neil.
"There's no doubt that costs are going to continue to come down," he said. "Now, around the world, solar energy costs about 8 cents a kilowatt hour. That's down 70 percent since 2010, and those costs are going to continue to come down as we develop the technology."
Moreover, he said, improved storage makes it possible to use solar energy even when the sky is cloudy or overcast.
philipjameshunt on September 16th, 2017 at 10:50 UTC »
Maybe not the right place to ask this, but maybe someone knows: in ten years when the technology of panels are far more efficient, will I be able to swap mine out for the better ones easily? Or will I have to change the entire system to accommodate new technology?
the_alpha_turkey on September 16th, 2017 at 07:36 UTC »
My dad doubts climate change and we got some for our roof. Just makes economic sense.
KubrickIsMyCopilot on September 16th, 2017 at 05:21 UTC »
I've used the term "Solarchy" to refer to the impending energy utopia that solar power will enable.
When you think about it, such a thing would not be exclusively economic in nature: So many horrific political phenomena have been driven by fossil fuels over the years, and those phenomena will just evaporate, with nothing even resembling an analogous issue replacing it due to solar energy.
Solar is a technology, not a limited commodity that can be strictly controlled, and even its feeder commodities are all over the world rather than concentrated in a few places. Any country that tries to corner it will just sabotage its own interests by motivating other countries to develop local resources, so one way or another this industry becomes ubiquitous and decentralized.
No long-term monopoly or oligopoly is even possible. Only short-term ones, with each step spreading the technology further and the cost lower.