Record Solar Capacity Installed
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US installs record solar capacity as prices keep falling / Ars Technica
It’s becoming increasingly common to find regions across the US in which it’s cheaper to build and operate solar power infrastructure than to buy natural gas from existing (already built) power plants.
That’s pretty wild, as gas has long been pitched as the cheaper, greener alternative to coal and oil.
But solar is far greener (zero emissions rather than just lower-than-coal emissions) and becoming cheaper, as well, as prices for capacity installation has fallen by up to 10% in a single year (driven in part by economies of scale and evolving technologies, and in part by subsidies and other incentives introduced by the Inflation Reduction Act).
The cost per watt for solar energy has dropped to an average of $1.35 in 2021 (a decrease of about 75% from 2010 prices).
Also: High cost of living is making sustainability a luxury of the wealthy, Kantar study finds
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