The collapse in solar electricity costs
The global weighted-average cost of electricity from new utility-scale solar PV fell from USD 0.460/kWh in 2010 to USD 0.044/kWh in 2023 — a 90% decline. By 2023 solar PV was about 56% cheaper than the average fossil-fuel alternative, having been roughly four times more expensive in 2010.
Source: IRENA — Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2023 (2024)
What it means
A 90% fall in solar's levelised cost in just over a decade is the clearest example of how fast clean-energy economics can shift, and module prices alone fell about 93% over a similar period. For industry the lesson generalises: technologies on a steep cost-decline curve — sensors, batteries, AI inference — become viable far sooner than static planning assumes.
Context
IRENA's annual cost report tracks the levelised cost of electricity, which spreads capital and operating cost over lifetime output. Falling module prices contributed the largest single share — around 45% — of the solar cost decline since 2010, with the rest coming from cheaper balance-of-system, financing and scale. The figures are global weighted averages; costs vary widely by country, so any individual project will differ from the headline.
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Relevant to: Power Generation · Chemicals · Food Processing