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It depends on how you regulate the market. Part of the reason solar is still expensive on the market in Europe is because of regulations. To counter this to not
by devjab 2y ago
It depends on how you regulate the market. Part of the reason solar is still expensive on the market in Europe is because of regulations. To counter this to not kill growth you have various forms of economic incentives like tariffs for solar where the various government’s subsidies make up for the regulation. It’s to keep the fossil and nuclear energy market in Europe sustainable. Since we still heavily rely on these sources when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing.
The battery industry is expected to grow a maddening percentage in the coming decade. Germany moving their renewable goal from 60-80% by (I’m not sure about the year but I think it’s 2030), alone increased the expected economic growth for supplying battery storage by 800%. There is nowhere near enough storage to make nuclear and fossil fuels obsolete yet however. Especially not if we also increase the EV market share.
Solar isn’t optimal in very hot regions, however, as the efficiency goes down 0.3-0.5% in efficiency for every degree Celsius above 0 degrees Celsius. So in some regions nuclear is going to be a good option. I’m not personally a fan of nuclear because its safety depends on governments being willing to regulate the safety, but there is no denying that it’s still a much, much, better alternative to fossil fuels as far as delivering power on demand.
This is how it looks in Europe. I have no idea how it looks in the US.
- belorn 2y agoThe battery industry being built at the moment in Sweden is having some major issues right now when investment money and subsidizes are running dry. The biggest actor are close to bankruptcy and rushing to find new sources of money. There seems a general pattern that if you need to build it outside of china, be that batteries, nuclear power plants or solar panels, it becomes too expensive.
- actionfromafar 2y agoChina is not afraid of subsidies and central planning, for better and worse.
- devjab 2y agoThe market is consolidating in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the challenges with the global supply lines and the increased interest rates. A lot of the smaller projects backed by semiprofessional investors will be picked up by larger investment fonds. There is also still a couple of years until the European battery factories that are under construction will actually be operational. Unless the economy picks up I suspect we’ll see a lot of bankruptcies in the coming five years. Currently it’s not just the price of solar panel production that is an issue, it’s also that you make equal and safer money on other investments. Back when the interest rates were basically 0% the 3-7% returns on solar were very attractive but now that is just not the case. This is why you see Japan picking up as an attractive place for solar these years, because in Japan a 3-7% return is still very good.