Cost Drops In Renewable Energy Leads To Global Capacity Boost

It seems like almost every other week now we’re hearing about a new record set within the energy industry – and positive ones, too! The latest one is this; in a nutshell, throughout 2016 renewable energy capacity was boosted around the world by a record amount. At the same time, the prices for them dropped at a notable amount, even in the face of a slight drop in investment. So, what exactly does this mean for the energy industry as a whole?

Solar Energy Is Becoming More Affordable Than Ever Before

New research in the global energy sector has recently been released by REN21; a network of public and private sector organisations, whose scope covers 155 countries and 96% of the world’s population. According to this research, falling prices in solar and wind the world over have lead to an increasing number of new power deals, even despite a decline in financial investment.

In fact, over the course of 2016, a total of 161GW of new renewable energy capacity was installed globally, in the form of installations like solar panels. For those of you counting, that’s a 10% increase on the amount installed in 2015, marking a new world-wide record! Solar power was one of the biggest contributors to this rise, accounting for around half of all new renewable energy capacity worldwide.

What The Experts Are Saying

All this extra capacity is having a demonstrable effect on our output, too. By the beginning of this year, around a quarter (24%) of global electricity was being produced by renewables. And while it marks a great step forward for renewables as a whole, solar energy is also having its moment in the sun (if you’ll pardon the pun) – it’s the very first year that new solar capacity has outstripped those of other electricity-producing technologies.

World leaders and commentators are quite rightly hailing it as a landmark event, too:

“The renewables train has already left the station, and those who ignore [its] central role in climate mitigation risk being left behind.”

• Christine Lins, executive secretary of REN21

“Offering every greater bang-for-buck, renewables are quite simply the cheapest way to generate energy in an ever-growing number of countries.”

• Christiana Figueres, UN climate chief and key player in development of the Paris Agreement

Figueres has also warned that going forward, as a planet we need to continue to drive the renewables initiative ever-further, ever-faster. But with the way things are looking at the moment, it seems like a pretty foregone conclusion that we’re definitely on the right track. So the only question remains: is your business taking advantage of everything that solar power has to offer you?

Solar Power For Business

Quite a few of our recent blogs have gone into full details about why solar power is an excellent option for your business. With our solar power solutions, you can save money on your energy bills, optimise your energy usage and possibly even make a profit from the excess electricity stored by selling it back to the Grid via the Feed-In Tariff.

Click on our solar panel industries page to find out exactly how your organisation can benefit from an endless source of renewable energy. Alternatively, you can give us a call on 084456 808 963, and we’ll be happy to answer any questions or queries you may have!

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