How solar energy got so cheap, and why it's not everywhere (yet)

A lot speaks for solar energy. It's clean, renewable – and now even cheaper than energy from fossil fuels like coal or natural gas. Sounds pretty great, right? But it only makes up a tiny bit of global electricity production. Why don't we use a lot more of it yet?

We're destroying our environment at an alarming rate. But it doesn't need to be this way. Our new channel Planet A explores the shift towards an eco-friendly world — and challenges our ideas about what dealing with climate change means. We look at the big and the small: What we can do and how the system needs to change. Every Friday we'll take a truly global look at how to get us out of this mess.

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Cost of solar:

Solar and wind in global electricity production:

The duck curve:

Growth of solar energy:

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Author: Malte Rohwer-Kahlmann
Video Editor: Cem Springer
Supervising Editor: Kiyo Dörrer

[fatcat]

The person who visualized that as a duck was clearly trippin on acid or was high AF 3:17

[Kirill-xpjq]

"It kinda looks like a duck"
That's the stretchiest stretch I've ever seen lol

[andreavila]

Would love to see more on panel end-of-life issues: recycling, disposal, etc. Thank you!

[KD-]

Love this Channel n all its videoss! Thankyou and Awesome work!

[jts]

DW, just an idea…. Could you do an episode on the making and disposing the solar Panels and lithium batteries? It would be interesting to understand the complete life cycle of the solar panels. What does it takes to manufacture these and how do we dispose them safely. Thank you.

[pbkayakyer]

That looks absolutely nothing like a duck.

[albertchapman]

Compliments, simply brilliant, clear and easy explained... Thanks I can say. Some hints for next Videos:
1) work with number, statistics, be reagion countries and related to polution
2) show how it cna be for a simple family or worker, in the city and suburbs, etc
3) show how is the trend and diferences on hot sunny regios, cold sunny regions, during the year and environmental impact

[flyingmedic]

A very impartial and thoughtful assessment. Thank you.

[konnyfu]

I hate that lithium ion batteries are a economically effective way of large scale energy storage. They have a huge environmental impact, are also based on a limited resource (which we are trying to AVOID with renewable energies) and degrade over time. I am bidding on either hydrogen or more sustainable batteries such as carbon based ones.

[lotusmojo]

I have a 9.2 Kw system in my roof here in sunny Texas and it did really cut my bill by at least 60% depending on consumption based on temperatures ... I need batteries tough, I’d like to see decrease in cost so I’m 100% independent from grid in case of a new massive outage

[wora]

I am living north of the Alps in Europe and have some collectors on my roof, facing south-east and south-west. In my basement there is a small battery with about 4.7kWh. In March and April our house used less energy than it produced. Still there were some peaks when I needed additional energy from the net, only during the day though, when dish washer, the oven or the washing machine were running.
One important change by house based solar systems is that the energy is produced not in central spots but rather the production is distributed, which reduces the need for high tension power lines and changes the setup of the grid. Like the mobile phone did for the landlines.

[suhailsurajpal]

Would love to see your oppinions on air compression storage of solar power

[gumdum]

‘China make it cheap’ totally relatable to almost everything. 😂

[armgash]

I would love to have a solar energy production system on my roof top that can not only meet half of my home electricity demand but also reduce the heat buildup in the upper floor during scorchy hot days of summer. I have this as top of my wish list.

[joeyager]

I'm always astounded by the negative reactions to new technology by people who are holding a smart phone in their hand with 120, 000, 000 times more computing than the Apollo spacecrafts had that landed on the Moon almost 52 years ago. This all came from that and everything that preceded it. Technology comes and goes to be replaced by something better.

[icookwithmom]

What's the carbon footprint of all that silicon and lithium that needs to be mined in order to make this work on a large scale?

[peterweller]

Thanks for the video. On a personal note, I was gratified that i did not hear possibly, might or perhaps.
I agree that saving the planet is difficult but a worthwhile long-term project.
So, I will end by saying we just need to prioritize our efforts in energy storage and use the technology that makes sense.

[jaihind]

Some information were new for me... Especially hydro storage... Thank you very much

[andrewbrown]

Solar adoption in Northern Ireland (not sunny California) was only made economically possible because of 20 year guaranteed grants paid to early adopters by increased prices for all! Storage is still not economic!

[jessicaklement]

We should also focus on shifting energy demand to times when there is energy availiable. That could be easily achived by offering the exesive power at very low price and making this information avaliable online with a forecast. People would automatically find ways to use it like price dependant electric Vehicle charging or temperature control (heating and cooling).