Solar Power Has Become The Cheapest and Best Electricity You Can Get
By: Jason Hope
Tags: Futurism, Renewable Energy, Energy, Future, Solar Energy

According to the IEA (International Energy Agency), solar power continues to rise in use. However, the market is currently stalled because of the global pandemic and tanked economy. The numbers in 2018 projected that solar power would be the main source of electricity in forty percent of homes and businesses in the next twelve years.

Photo by Samyag Shah on Unsplash

Yet, the pandemic has put a negative skew on those predictions now. The IEA has put out a 244-page report detailing how solar energy use has expanded and its very cheap and affordable means of generating electricity. Comparing it to all other means of generating electricity shows that after the initial installation costs, solar energy produces a lot more electricity for pennies on the watt-hour. That said, the IEA still feels that solar energy has the potential to overtake and outshine (pun intended!) all limited resources and natural resources for electricity and the generation of electrical power.

The Pandemic May Have Changed the Scenarios, but not the Future of Solar Power

Solar power is still a strong contender for the source of electricity in the near and distant future. The IEA, as part of its 244-page report, included different scenarios that predict the outcome for future use of solar energy use and consumption. The scenarios are based on the current socio-economic situation and the wrench that has been thrown in the mix by the pandemic. That could all change if the economy suddenly soars in the next four years and Americans experience greater prosperity than before.

The previous scenario that predicted how solar energy use would play out has been abandoned by IEA because of the shroud of uncertainty left in the wake of the pandemic. Usually, this first scenario as published two years ago would have been accepted as gospel. The whole pandemic has completely turned that scenario on its head. Therefore, the IEA had to create new scenarios to predict the future of solar energy and its consumption.

Net Zero Emissions Approach

One thing that is fueling the drive, even now, toward greater widespread use of solar energy in the state and federal policy on net-zero emissions. This is a government policy focused on eliminating emissions from the air by 2050. California has pushed this even further by demanding its residents meet the net-zero emissions goal by 2035. Other states are taking similar steps towards net-zero emissions and a big part of this is directly tied to solar power use over the use of coal, oil, natural gas, and/or fossil fuels.

As such, there have already been changed in the way natural resources are in use. Demand for many non-renewable resources has dropped in the last decade, replaced by wind and/or solar power. IEA has published its work and predictions on the premise of each of the scenarios it has included in its report. With solar leading the way in these scenarios, the charts accompanying this report make it clear why solar is such a good solution.

A Word on Futurology and Futurism

Futurology is “the study of the future.” It is in effect predicting what the future will be like under the current constructs of what is happening in the world and how it can all change. Futurism, while it may sound the same or similar to futurology, is actually a social movement started in the late 20th century. It focuses on how different people expect things in the future to be concerning technology and how people live. It imagines the world without actually predicting how the world may really be.

IEA: Solar-Powered Science Fiction, or Solar-Powered Solution?

IEA is deeply into futurology because its concerns lie with the outcome of matters of global importance. They look at all of the current variables and set up models of outcomes based on those variables. Their methodology is to focus on ways to change the current variables for a more positive outcome for the environment, the world, and the survival of this planet.

Colleges actually offer degrees in futurology. Students who major in this subject are not doing because they want to talk incessantly about science fiction. On the contrary, they gain degrees that delve into global problems and look at solutions to those problems in a very futuristic sort of way.

It is akin to saying that you refuse to eat breakfast, and then predicting what the outcome of that choice will be five or six hours later. Unsettling hunger, stomach pain, gurgling tummy, dizziness, and fainting from a lack of eating, etc., are all futurology outcomes, but you can solve it by resolving to make a different decision now. It is the same for futurologists and their field of expertise but on a much higher scale.

IEA is doing that. They are looking at all of the current variables and engineering solutions in a predictive fashion that makes complete sense. They are seeing solar power as a major solution and discussing it as such. What they do is not science fiction, and they are showing you that this is how things are rolling now, and what they expect will happen within the next thirty years.