{"id":94822,"date":"2023-10-21T09:37:22","date_gmt":"2023-10-21T07:37:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sonnenseite.com\/?p=94822"},"modified":"2023-10-21T09:37:24","modified_gmt":"2023-10-21T07:37:24","slug":"world-may-have-crossed-solar-power-tipping-point","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sonnenseite.com\/en\/energy\/world-may-have-crossed-solar-power-tipping-point\/","title":{"rendered":"World may have crossed solar power \u2018tipping point\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The world may have crossed a \u201ctipping point\u201d that will inevitably make solar power our main source of energy, new research suggests<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study, based on a data-driven model of technology and economics, finds that solar PV (photovoltaics) is likely to become the dominant power source before 2050 \u2013 even without support from more ambitious climate policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, it warns four \u201cbarriers\u201d could hamper this: creation of stable power grids, financing solar in developing economies, capacity of supply chains, and political resistance from regions that lose jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The researchers say policies resolving these barriers may be more effective than price instruments such as carbon taxes in accelerating the clean energy transition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study, led by the University of Exeter and University College London, is part of the Economics of Energy Innovation and System Transition (EEIST)<\/a> project, funded by the UK Government\u2019s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and the Children\u2019s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe recent progress of renewables means that fossil fuel-dominated projections are no longer realistic,\u201d Dr Femke Nijsse<\/a>, from Exeter\u2019s Global Systems Institute<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn other words, we have avoided the \u2018business as usual\u2019 scenario for the power sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHowever, older projections often rely on models that see innovation as something happening outside of the economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn reality, there is a virtuous cycle between technologies being deployed and companies learning to do so more cheaply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen you include this cycle in projections, you can represent the rapid growth of solar in the past decade and into the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTraditional models also tend to assume the \u2018end of learning\u2019 at some point in the near future \u2013 when in fact we are still seeing very rapid innovation in solar technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUsing three models that track positive feedbacks, we project that solar PV will dominate the global energy mix by the middle of this century.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the researchers warn that solar-dominated electricity systems could become \u201clocked into configurations that are neither resilient nor sustainable, with a reliance on fossil fuel for dispatchable power\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of trying to bring about the solar transition in itself, governments should focus policies on overcoming the four key \u201cbarriers\u201d:<\/p>\n\n\n\n