Solar panel costs predicted to fall 10% a year

Solar power costs are tumbling so fast the technology is likely to fast outstrip mainstream energy forecasts. That is the conclusion of Oxford University researchers, based on a new forecasting model published in Research Policy. 

Since the 1980s, panels to generate electricity from sunshine have got 10% cheaper each year. That is likely to continue, the study said, putting solar on course to meet 20% of global energy needs by 2027. By contrast, even in its “high renewable” scenario, the International EnergyAgency assumes solar panels will generate just 16% of electricity in 2050. Its widely cited future energy scenarios in previous years failed to predict solar’s rapid growth. Mathematics professor Doyne Farmer, who co-wrote the paper, said the research could help to shape clean energy policy. “Sceptics have claimed that solar PV cannot be ramped up quickly enough to play a significant role in combatting global warming,” he said. “In a context where limited resources for technology investment constrain policy makers to focus on a few technologies… the ability to have improved forecasts and know how accurate they are should prove particularly useful.” Farmer’s model, jointly developed with economist Francois Lafond, draws on historical data from 53 different technologies. “We put ourselves in the past, pretended we didn’t know the future, and used a simple method to forecast the costs of the technologies,” Farmer explained. The research was supported by the European Commission and US Department of Solar Energy Technologies Office. It comes as India and France are championing a solar alliance to scale up the technology worldwide, boosting energy access and curbing greenhouse gas emissions. Last week India’s coal minister Piyush Goyal said solar was now cheaper than coal in some states after the latest auction of solar capacity. “Through transparent auctions with a ready provision of land, transmission and the like, solar tariffs have come down below thermal power cost,” he tweeted. “We are moving rapidly towards realising the clean energy vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”

Original Post: Oxford University Research 

Modi, Hollande dedicate International Solar Alliance to the world

Calling it a landmark initiative to save the world from global warming, and to push solar energy as a viable alternative across the world, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande jointly inaugurated the Interim Secretariat of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) in Gurgaon on Monday. They also laid the foundation stone of the ISA secretariat, which will be hosted by India at the National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE) campus in Gurgaon.

NISE, Gurgaon will provide 5 acres of land for the construction of the ISA secretariat, and during the interim period three floors of the Surya Kiran building at the campus will be allotted to run the alliance. The Alliance comprises more than 100 solar-resource-rich countries working together with the objective of globally increasing the use of solar energy. Both PM Modi , and the French president Hollande travelled in Delhi Metro till Arjangarh Metro station, and reached NISE by road which is 11 km from the station. A DMRC spokesperson said that a special train was arranged for the two heads of the state to travel to Gurgaon, and scheduled in such a manner that movement of other trains was not disturbed.

In his address, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that that it launch of Solar alliance in Haryana was a historic occasion as it was happening in the land which has given the message of Geeta. “The people of India are dedicated to life, and respect all forms of energy particularly the Sun. This alliance which aims to harness solar energy is part of our belief system, and would be taken to logical conclusion”, he assured. The PM described the solar alliance as one of the two landmark initiatives, apart from innovation, that emerged during the two-week Climate Change Conference held in Paris last year, in which key roles were played by India and France. “We realised that if oil producing countries can unite, then 122 nations in the world who get more than 300 days of Sun can also unite, and the idea of solar alliance was born out of this thought. I assure you that this idea will impact generations as world would generate more green power”, said Modi. He appreciated the role played by French President in the formation of Alliance, and brining all nations together.

The French Development Agency will allocate 300 million Euros to developing solar energy over the next five years in order to finance the initial projects to be undertaken by the International Solar Alliance (ISA). Speaking on the occasion, the President of France, Francois Hollande, described the Alliance as India’s gift to the world for combating climate change. He said that the Prime Minister had approached him last year with the idea of an international coalition aiming at development of solar energy, particularly in countries with the greatest potential for it, and making this energy accessible to all. Following this, he and Narendra Modi had together launched the International Solar Alliance at the opening of the Paris Climate Conference on November 30, 2015.

Hollande said that the Alliance was faced with the challenge of raising global investment to the tune of 1,200 billion Euros required to develop solar energy by 2030.

The French President said that several French-Indian projects would be launched in order to contribute to the success of the Alliance, and a number of agreements have been signed for this purpose. Haryana Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki, Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Union minister of state for power, coal and renewable energy, Piyush Goyal were present on the occasion along with several dignitaries.

Original News: HT