Solar wins: How sunshine will save the planet, really, we have hope

http://grist.org/climate-energy/solar-ftw-how-sunshine-will-save-the-planet-really-we-have-hope/

?w=470&h=265&crop=1

We’ve had some bad news this year, like wildfires, hurricanes, droughts, floods, exploding oil trains, imploding governments, and an international consensus of climate scientists affirming that the end is probably nigh: Any enviro can see these are dark times for the climate. But if you squint hard enough through the gloom, a literal and figurative ray of sunshine emerges! Because you know what, guys, solar energy may just save us all. For realz.

It’s kind of a no-brainer — enough free, clean, undisputed energy falls on the earth’s surface in a little over an hour to power all of humanity for a year — but the solar story so far has had its share of struggles, goofs, and embarrassment. (Looking at you, Solyndra.) This should not be a total shock: Unlike photosynthesizing plants, humans have not spent billions of years evolving ways to harvest and store all that tasty energy, and so developing the tools to do so has been pretty complicated and expensive — so far.

And yet, technically and financially speaking, solar news of late is looking pretty solid across the board. Here are some stories of solar wins to tell your children when you tuck them in at night, to give them hope for the climatopocalyptic future:

1. Solar cells are becoming more and more efficient. New materials and methods are continually producing solar cells that perform better than their early crystalline silicon antecedents; meanwhile, cheaper thin-film cells are also improving. And upgrades are not limited to the lab: Your wallet may see an increase in efficiency as well. The price of a single watt of solar has dropped 95 percent in the past 30 years. In other words, what cost you around $20 in 1980 is now just over a buck. (Meanwhile, everything else you used to buy for a dollar is headed up, up, up.)