×

Our award-winning reporting has moved

Context provides news and analysis on three of the world’s most critical issues:

climate change, the impact of technology on society, and inclusive economies.

 
Part of: Solar energy
Back to package

Solar energy could dominate electricity by 2050 - IEA

by Reuters
Monday, 29 September 2014 12:25 GMT

A worker stands next to parabolic mirrors tracking the sun at the research site of solar power company Brenmiller Energy in Israel's Negev desert, Sept. 9, 2014. Brenmiller Energy says it has developed a new, more efficient way to store heat from the sun that could give a boost to the thermal solar power industry by enabling plants to run at full capacity night and day. REUTERS/ Nir Elias

Image Caption and Rights Information

Plummeting cost of solar power equipment means it could become a major electricity source, report says

LONDON, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Solar energy could be the top source of electricity by 2050, aided by plummeting costs of the equipment to generate it, a report from the International Energy Agency (IEA), the West's energy watchdog, said on Monday.

IEA Reports said solar photovoltaic (PV) systems could generate up to 16 percent of the world's electricity by 2050, while solar thermal electricity (STE) - from "concentrating" solar power plants - could provide a further 11 percent.

"The rapid cost decrease of photovoltaic modules and systems in the last few years has opened new perspectives for using solar energy as a major source of electricity in the coming years and decades," said IEA Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven.

Solar photovoltaic (PV) panels constitute the fastest growing renewable energy technology in the world since 2000, although solar is still less than 1 percent of energy capacity worldwide.

The IEA said PV expansion would be led by China, followed by the United States, while STE could also grow in the United States along with Africa, India and the Middle East.

(Reporting by Sarah McFarlane; Editing by David Holmes)

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

-->