Solar Power

Below is a quick overview of solar power today. Below the overview, I’ve also added a number of additional solar power resources which are worth exploring if you want to take an even deeper dive into the subject.

To get rolling, here is a CNBC interview of me talking about why, very generally, solar power is so important, and also talking about its potential to help the world today.

Secondly, here’s a video about how much the cost of solar has dropped in recent years and what that means, followed by an “About Solar / Why Solar” video that gets into the specifics of the solar energy and overall energy markets a bit more:

The sections below cover:

  1. Solar Power’s Abundance
  2. Falling Solar Power Costs
  3. Solar Energy Industry Growth
  4. Largest Solar Power Projects

If you’re looking for specific information on solar power technology, that’s not included here, but I’d recommend these resources for more on that:

  1. How Do Solar Panels, Solar Cells and Solar Energy Work?
  2. Solar Thermal Panels, Practical but Not Yet Popular – A Solar Overview
  3. Most Efficient Solar Panels — Which Ones?
  4. The Solar Power Wikipedia page

Solar Power Abundance!

solar energy potential
“2009 Estimate of finite and renewable planetary energy reserves (Terawatt-years). Total recoverable reserves are shown for the finite resources. Yearly potential is shown for the renewables.” (Perez & Perez, 2015)

No other energy source compares to the energy potential of sunshine. Looking at the image above, make sure to notice that circles for coal, uranium, petroleum, and natural gas are total recoverable reserves, whereas the renewable energy circles (including the giant yellow solar energy one) are for energy potential per year.

The bottom line: Solar energy is the most abundant energy source on the planet, by far.

For a micro-scale example, the solar energy hitting the state of Texas each month is equal to the total amount of energy the Texas oil and gas industry has ever produced.

Solar Power Costs

Now, a lot of politicians and people connected to or confused by the fossil fuel industry like to contend that solar power is expensive. Well, to put the matter bluntly: No, it’s not.

Technology improvements and policies to promote research, development, and installation of solar have resulted in tremendous drops in the cost of solar power over the past several years. Even without taking important health and safety costs (note that a Harvard study concluded in 2011 that the health costs of coal are $500 billion a year in the U.S.), environmental costs, energy security costs, and other social costs into account, solar is already cost-competitive with new electricity from conventional energy options like coal and nuclear energy (if you take into account how long it would take coal or nuclear plants to get built) — see the graphs below.

price-of-solar-power-drop-graph

solar energy versus solar power costs
Note that the 2012 solar LCOE of 14 cents/kWh is already way out of date, with solar hitting 3–9 cents/kWh in the Middle East, USA, Brazil, and elsewhere.
solar energy versus nuclear energy costs
Note that the 2012 solar LCOE of 14 cents/kWh is already way out of date, with solar hitting 3–9 cents/kWh in the Middle East, USA, Brazil, and elsewhere.

That’s just an appetizer, of course. For more along these lines, here are a few more stories on solar power costs:

  1. True Value of Solar Power
  2. Cost of Solar Power Competitive with Coal in Some Places, & Dropping Fast
  3. Solar Power Graphs to Make You Smile
  4. Historic Report: Solar Energy Costs Now Lower than Nuclear Energy
  5. Another Low-Solar-Price Record: Saudi Electric Company Lands Solar PPA Under 5¢/kWh
  6. Dubai Gets Record-Low Bid Of 2.99¢/kWh For 800 MW Solar PV Project

Solar Power Industry Growth

Dropping costs, as well as concerns like global warming and air pollution, have triggered massive growth in the solar energy industry. I’m going to focus on U.S. solar energy industry growth here, but the trends are similar globally and in other major economies, like China, Germany, the UK, Spain, and many other countries.

One of my favorite solar graphs is this one, which is on the exponential solar power growth we’ve seen in recent years:

US solar power growth

Here’s another one that goes through 2014 and shows the annual growth trend:

solar PV power growth US

Some more key facts for you:

  1. The U.S. solar energy industry now employs ~175,000 people (more than the coal or steel industry).
  2. The U.S. solar energy industry has been the fastest-growing industry in the U.S. in recent years. (It has been creating jobs 10 times faster than the U.S. economy as a whole).
  3. Over 5,000 businesses (mostly small businesses) support the solar industry in the U.S., creating jobs for Americans in every state.
  4. 9 out of 10 Americans think we should be developing and using more solar power.

Solar is expected to continue booming. In the U.S., it might even double each year up to 2020 (under the right policy scenario):

solar pv market growth us

Here are some more posts on solar energy industry growth:

  1. Solar Power Could Produce >50% of Global Electricity, IEA Report Concludes
  2. Solar Power Graphs to Make You Smile
  3. Renewables = 99% Of New Electricity Capacity In Q1 2016 In USA (CleanTechnica Electricity Reports)
  4. US PV Installations Predicted To Pass 8 GW, Say GTM & SEIA
  5. US Solar PV Installations Surpassed 6 GW In 2014 (Charts)

Largest Solar Power Plants

Okay, an “about solar” page wouldn’t be complete without a list of the largest solar power plants in the world, right? (Though, note that much of the solar power capacity in the world is in small installations and one of the prime advantages of solar is its decentralization and its ability to help “democratize” the electricity system — even the CIA and Department of Defense have focused on the national security benefits of solar.) Nonetheless, I think almost everyone loves a list of the “largest _________,” so here are two current lists (largest solar thermal power plants and largest solar photovoltaic power plants):

Largest Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Power Plants in the World

  1. Tengger Desert Solar Park in China — 1547 MW (completed in 2016)
  2. Datong Solar Power Top Runner Base in China — 1000 MW (first phase, of 3 GW total, completed in 2016)
  3. Kurnool Ultra Mega Solar Park in India — 1000 MW (completed in 2017)
  4. Longyangxia Dam Solar Park in China — 850 MW (completed in 2015)
  5. Kamuthi Solar Power Project in India — 648 MW (completed in 2016)
  6. Solar Star in USA — 579 MW (completed in 2015)
  7. Topaz Solar Farm in USA — 550 MW (completed in 2014)
  8. Desert Sunlight Solar Farm in USA — 550 MW (completed in 2015)
  9. Copper Mountain Solar Facility in USA — 458 MW (completed in 2015)
  10. Charanka Solar Park in India — 345 MW (partially complete, will be 500 MW when done)
  11. Longyangxia Dam Solar Park in China — 320 MW (completed in 2013)
  12. Agua Caliente in USA — 290 MW (completed in 2014)
  13. Antelope Valley Solar Ranch in USA — 266 MW (completed in 2014)
  14. Mount Signal Solar in USA — 265.7 MW (completed in 2014)
  15. California Valley Solar Ranch in USA — 250 MW (completed in 2013)

Largest Solar Thermal Power Plants in Operation

  1. “Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System” in the Mojave Desert of California, USA — 392 MW
  2. “Solar Energy Generating Systems” in California, USA — 360 MW
  3. “Mojave Solar Project” in California, USA — 280 MW
  4. “Solana Generating Station” in Arizona, USA — 280 MW
  5. “Genesis Solar Energy Project” in California, USA — 280 MW
  6. “Solaben Solar Power Station” in Logrosán, Spain — 200 MW
  7. “Noor 1” in Ghassate, Morocco — 160 MW
  8. “Solnova Solar Power Station” in Seville, Spain — 150 MW
  9. “Andasol Solar Power Station” in Granada, Spain — 150 MW
  10. “Extresol Solar Power Station” in Torre de Miguel Sesmero, Spain — 150 MW
  11. “Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project” in Nevada, USA — 125 MW

Chime in below with extra information, comments, or questions! Or shoot me a message on Google+.

Solar Power Update

In summary, here are solar energy and solar power facts from the above page:

  1. Solar power prices have fallen off a steep, rocky cliff in the past few decades — literally! 😉
  2. Solar energy potential makes the energy potential of fossil fuels look like a pea in the desert — super duper literally! 😉
  3. More technically, annual solar energy potential = 23,000 TWh globally, compared to 1,355 TWh in total (not annual) for fossil fuel (oil + natural gas + coal) known reserves.
  4. The solar energy hitting the state of Texas each month is equal to the total amount of energy the Texas oil and gas industry has ever produced
  5. The price of a solar cell dropped from $77/watt in 1977 to $0.74/watt in 2013.
  6. On average, the price per kWh of a new solar power plant is far cheaper than the price of electricity from a new coal or nuclear power plant.
  7. The U.S. solar energy industry now employs ~175,000 people (more than the coal or steel industry).
  8. The U.S. solar energy industry has been the fastest-growing industry in the U.S. in recent years. (It has been creating jobs 10 times faster than the U.S. economy as a whole).
  9. Over 5,000 businesses (mostly small businesses) support the solar industry in the U.S., creating jobs for Americans in every state.
  10. 9 out of 10 Americans think we should be developing and using more solar power.
  11. Renewables = 99% Of New Electricity Capacity In Q1 2016 In USA

See our Solar Energy Facts / Solar Power Facts page and our Top Solar Energy Resources for more.