[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"question:55:en-US":3},{"metadata":4,"sys":15,"fields":35},{"tags":5,"concepts":14},[6,11],{"sys":7},{"type":8,"linkType":9,"id":10},"Link","Tag","energy",{"sys":12},{"type":8,"linkType":9,"id":13},"global",[],{"space":16,"id":20,"type":21,"createdAt":22,"updatedAt":23,"environment":24,"publishedVersion":28,"revision":29,"contentType":30,"locale":34},{"sys":17},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"Space","ghhpjogyw4x7","106578eba14fd0c3c6774aa6344cba3d","Entry","2021-11-11T07:07:58.470Z","2023-12-07T14:37:10.721Z",{"sys":25},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},"master","Environment",84,19,{"sys":31},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":33},"ContentType","question","en-US",{"globalId":36,"answers":37,"answersAsImages":58,"wrongPercentage":94,"name":95,"questionText":96,"statistics":97,"veryWrongStatistics":99,"correctSentence":101,"youWereWrong":102,"youWereRight":103,"dataSourceShortText":104,"dataSourceLinkLongText":105,"extendedAnswerText":106,"headingVeryWrong":107,"youWereVeryWrong":102,"headingWrong":107},"55",[38,60,77],{"metadata":39,"sys":42,"fields":55},{"tags":40,"concepts":41},[],[],{"space":43,"id":45,"type":21,"createdAt":46,"updatedAt":47,"environment":48,"publishedVersion":50,"revision":51,"contentType":52,"locale":34},{"sys":44},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"e55fc40c5c3c51727a4cf0151d34202e","2021-11-11T06:53:55.794Z","2023-10-19T13:14:35.301Z",{"sys":49},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},27,12,{"sys":53},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":54},"answer",{"globalId":56,"correctAnswer":57,"isVeryWrong":58,"answerText":59},"55-a1",true,false,"1% of the 1980 cost",{"metadata":61,"sys":64,"fields":74},{"tags":62,"concepts":63},[],[],{"space":65,"id":67,"type":21,"createdAt":68,"updatedAt":69,"environment":70,"publishedVersion":50,"revision":51,"contentType":72,"locale":34},{"sys":66},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"daf16832ee10930a7176cf8239fe07f7","2021-11-11T06:53:57.287Z","2023-10-19T13:14:41.577Z",{"sys":71},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},{"sys":73},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":54},{"globalId":75,"correctAnswer":58,"isVeryWrong":58,"answerText":76},"55-a2","21% of the 1980 cost",{"metadata":78,"sys":81,"fields":91},{"tags":79,"concepts":80},[],[],{"space":82,"id":84,"type":21,"createdAt":85,"updatedAt":86,"environment":87,"publishedVersion":50,"revision":51,"contentType":89,"locale":34},{"sys":83},{"type":8,"linkType":18,"id":19},"1ec333fd7d85e8f801317d5339e15e75","2021-11-11T06:53:58.848Z","2023-10-19T13:14:47.927Z",{"sys":88},{"id":26,"type":8,"linkType":27},{"sys":90},{"type":8,"linkType":32,"id":54},{"globalId":92,"correctAnswer":58,"isVeryWrong":57,"answerText":93},"55-a3","41% of the 1980 cost",79,"Compared to 1980, the cost of energy from solar pa","Compared to 1980, the cost of energy from solar panels today is roughly:",[98],"uk 0.79",[100],"uk 0.42","Solar panels today cost 1% of what they did in 1980.\n\n\u003Chttps:\u002F\u002Fvimeo.com\u002F892250813>","You probably hear a lot about solar panels, and the reason is that their price has dropped faster than anyone expected.","They didn’t realize just how fast the price of solar panels dropped.","Sources: IPCC and IRENA","Price data published by IPCC[1] in 2012, shows the dropping trend between 1976 and 2010 in constant USD 2005. The average price of silicon PV modules per Watt, dropped from $20 in 1980 down to $1.4 in 2010. This means the price had dropped to 7% already in 2010. \n\nThe IRENA report[2] shows the levelized cost of electricity expressed in 2020 USD\u002FkWh. It dropped from 0.38 to 0.06 $\u002FkWh. The price in 2020 was 16% of the 2010 price, which was 7% of the 1980 price, which means that the 2020 price was 1% of the 1980 price. These trends are confirmed by these other sources. Data from Lafond et al.[4] and IRENA[2], via Our World in Data[3] shows the global average price of Solar Photovoltaic (PV) modules in 1980 was $35.01 per watt, and in 2019 it was $0.38 per watt. The global average price per watt is measured in 2019 USD. \n\nThe data from Lafond et al.[4] goes up to 2009 and from there Our World in Data used data from the IRENA database[2]. A similar trend was published in April 2017 by Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2017 by UNEP[5]. We have gathered feedback from three independent experts who confirm the correct answer.\n\n[1]  [IPCC Renewable report, from 2012, page 15 Figure SPM.6(a)](https:\u002F\u002Farchive.ipcc.ch\u002Fpdf\u002Fspecial-reports\u002Fsrren\u002FSRREN_FD_SPM_final.pdf)  \n[2]  [IRENA - Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2019](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.irena.org\u002Fpublications\u002F2020\u002FJun\u002FRenewable-Power-Costs-in-2019) \n[3]  [Our World in Data - Solar PV module prices](https:\u002F\u002Fourworldindata.org\u002Fgrapher\u002Fsolar-pv-prices?tab=chart&stackMode=absolute&time=1976..latest&region=World)  \n[4]  [Lafond et al. (2017). How well do experience curves predict technological progress? A method for making distributional forecasts](https:\u002F\u002Farxiv.org\u002Fpdf\u002F1703.05979.pdf)  \n[5]  [Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2017, UNEP](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.ctc-n.org\u002Fresources\u002Fglobal-trends-renewable-energy-investment-2017)\n[6]  We consulted eight independent experts about this question, including Simon O'Leary of Regent's University London.","\nMost people have no clue that the [price of solar panels](https:\u002F\u002Fourworldindata.org\u002Fgrapher\u002Fsolar-pv-prices?tab=chart&stackMode=absolute&time=1976..latest&region=World) today is only 1% of what it was 40 years ago!\n\nEven though there has been a huge drop in the price, solar energy still only makes up roughly 1% of [the world’s energy use](https:\u002F\u002Fourworldindata.org\u002Fenergy#more-than-80-of-our-energy-still-comes-from-fossil-fuels). \n\nPerhaps if more people realized how cheap they have become, they could plan to change some of their energy use to this clean source.\n\n### Why are people wrong about this?\nDeciding what power source to use is not something people do every day. When the prices fall this fast, people tend to miss it. \n\n### Why is it a problem that people are wrong about this?\nThe global switch to clean energy is moving far too slowly. With misconceptions like this, the change is held back not by technology but by price information. \n\n### Is this the only way to measure the price of solar panels?\nNo, it isn’t. A common way is to measure the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE). This measures the cost of setting up and running a solar farm (for example) against the amount of energy produced. It can be used to compare the cost efficiency of different energy generation methods. If we look at this measure of solar panel costs we still see an enormous drop in prices; falling by 85% between 2010 and 2020. See the [IRENA report](https:\u002F\u002Fwww.irena.org\u002Fpublications\u002F2021\u002FJun\u002FRenewable-Power-Costs-in-2020).\n","Lightspeed price drop"]