How Solar BECAME Cheap

The evolution of solar technology from a scientific curiosity to a scalable source of low-carbon energy supply has provided society with a powerful tool with which to affordably contribute to a decarbonized the world economy.  But the challenge of addressing climate change requires such a large transformation of the energy system that even massive deployment of PV will be insufficient.  Part of the value in solar’s successful evolution is that it provides a model for the development of other low-carbon technologies that society will need to meaningfully address climate change.  This last section of the book describes how solar can serve as a model.  Understanding solar’s progress is the key to making smart decisions about developing climate technologies we will need.