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Powering the globe: How solar power fits future energy needs

Despite the solar sector's current worries - such as module oversupply, lack of long-term policy certainty and the ongoing trade conflict with China - the big picture is positive.

More and more nations around the world are jumping into project development, and many global trends over the next several years are expected to work in favor of solarenergy. As a result, PV and concentrating solar power (CSP) may fulfill as much as 25% of the world's electricity needs by 2050, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The report explains that under energy-projection scenarios that would reduce carbon-dioxide emissions by half from 2005 levels, renewables - especially solar - would enjoy high levels of penetration. Under these conditions, economies of scale would also lead to the type of cost reduction that the solar sector has long sought.

"In such carbon-constrained scenarios, the levelized cost of solar electricity comes close to those of competitors, including fossil fuels, at about $100/MWh by 2030," the IEA writes in the executive summary of the publication, titled "Solar Energy Perspectives."

After this turning point in 2030, PV and CSP would no longer be significantly constrained by their direct generation costs. Instead, production variability, projects' footprints, andsolar power's overall lower density and transportability (compared to that of fossil fuels) would be the main limiting factors for deployment, according to the IEA.

"Under all these strong assumptions, a long-term energy mix dominated by solarenergy in various forms may or may not be the cheapest low-carbon energy mix, but it would be affordable," the agency says, adding that ultimately, solar energy could even provide a full third of the world's electricity needs after 2060.

To know more about how will solar power the future, read Solar Industry's full story.

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