The clean energy revolution continues to prove everyone wrong, even the experts
The clean energy revolution continues! If you think you missed the boat with the end of government subsidies for solar, think again. The business case is as solid as ever thanks to plummeting costs and rising electricity prices, which is why uptake during the pandemic has far outstripped expectations. Types of clean energy include solar energy, wind energy, hydro energy, tidal energy, biomass energy, and more.
Here’s a fact to blow you away. In 2014, the International Energy Agency (IEA) – among the foremost experts in the global energy market – predicted that by 2050, the average price of solar power worldwide would reach $0.05/kWh. In reality, it took just six years, because we hit that price point last year.
Clean energy vs renewable energy
Clean energy is generated with energy that does not produce greenhouse gas emissions. Renewable energy is generated by energy from sources that can be replenished naturally over time.
No subsidy? No problem
The word ‘exponential’ doesn’t even do it justice when it comes to solar power. The cost of solar photovoltaics has been dropping by an average of 18% every year, without fail, for the past decade. Combine that with an unstoppable rise in electricity prices (watch out for a blog on this soon), and the loss of the government’s Feed-in Tariff (FIT) subsidy in 2019 has made little difference, if any, to the business case for solar PV on your rooftop.
The average payback for most clean energy rooftop solar PV systems is now around 2-4 years, which is quicker than at the height of the FIT subsidy regime.
No wonder, then, that new solar PV capacity in the UK grew by 545 megawatts in 2020 – a 27% year-on-year increase despite the impact of the pandemic. Predictions suggest we could see over 1 gigawatt of new installations this year.
Around 40% of the new capacity in 2020 was installed on rooftops, mostly on commercial and industrial buildings. Now that subsidies are gone and the market price for exporting solar power continues to drop, the more generated electricity you can use yourself, the better. That’s why solar PV is such a sound investment for manufacturing and industrial energy users.
The clean energy revolution continues to surprise
It’s not just the cost of solar PV that has plummeted. The IEA was also wildly off the mark with its predictions for electric cars. In 2016, it was forecast that combustion engines would still account for 60% of car sales in 2050. These days, it’s safe to assume they will all but have disappeared from UK showrooms before the end of this decade.
In fact, electric cars are expected to reach price parity with conventional vehicles before 2024. Running costs are already far cheaper, and when combined with solar PV, energy is essentially free and clean.
Meanwhile, LED lighting is now so cost-effective that it pays back in less than two years in the vast majority of cases. Not so far behind is battery storage technology, which will soon be an affordable option for most businesses – offering an opportunity for you to store free clean energy from your solar PV system and use it at peak times when the cost of electricity from the grid is highest.
Just a few years ago, it was almost inconceivable that all of these technologies would be able to outcompete their incumbents by the 2020s. But here we are.
Whether it’s lighting, solar or electric vehicle charging, we can advise you on the right solution to make sure your business is part of the clean energy revolution.
We love the clean energy revolution!
