Log scale — the only way to show a 700× cost collapse on one chart. The 2008 blip was a silicon shortage.
Source: Swanson's Law data; IEA Evolution of Solar PV Module Cost 1970–2020; IRENA Global Price Index 2024
90% cheaper in 14 years. The only rise: 2022, when lithium prices spiked globally — the only blip in history.
Source: BloombergNEF Annual Battery Price Survey 2010–2025
Solar crossed below coal in 2020. By 2024, solar at $43/MWh is 41% cheaper than the cheapest fossil fuel.
Source: IRENA Renewable Power Generation Costs 2024 report (LCOE = Levelized Cost of Energy, $/MWh)
From 1.3 GW in 2000 to 2,250 GW in 2024 — a 1,730× increase in 24 years. The hockey stick that changed energy.
Source: IRENA / SolarPower Europe Global Market Outlook 2025 / Enerdata
China alone has more solar than the rest of the world combined, and added 357 GW in 2024.
| 1 | China | 1,010 GW | |
| 2 | United States | 224 GW | |
| 3 | India | 125 GW | |
| 4 | Germany | 90 GW | |
| 5 | Japan | 90 GW | |
| 6 | Brazil | 47 GW | |
| 7 | Australia | 40 GW | |
| 8 | Spain | 34 GW |
Source: IEA-PVPS Snapshot 2025 / SolarPower Europe Global Market Outlook 2025
From 50 GW per year in 2015 to 600 GW in 2024 — a 12× surge in 9 years with no sign of slowing.
Source: SolarPower Europe Global Market Outlook 2025 / IRENA
A 100-watt solar panel cost $7,667 — more than a new car. Solar was science fiction for everyday use. It powered NASA satellites because nothing else could.
Solar became the cheapest source of electricity in history. For the first time, it was cheaper to build new solar than to run an existing coal plant in most of the world.
A 300-watt residential panel costs $33. The world installed 1.6 GW every single day. 91% of all new power capacity globally was cheaper than the cheapest fossil fuel.
For every doubling of cumulative solar panel shipments, price falls 20%. This has held perfectly since 1977 across 47 years and 6 orders of magnitude. No other manufactured product has sustained this rate for this long.
BloombergNEF has tracked Li-ion battery pack prices since 2010. In 14 years, they fell from $1,200/kWh to $115 — a 90% reduction. The only blip: 2022, when lithium prices spiked and battery prices rose 14% — the only year in history they went up.
In 2010, solar cost $417/MWh — 4× more than coal. By 2020, it crossed below $57/MWh — cheaper than any fossil fuel for the first time in history. In 2024, 91% of all new power capacity commissioned globally beat the cheapest fossil fuel alternative on cost.
The world installed 600 GW of solar in 2024 — 1.6 gigawatts every day of the year. China alone added 357 GW, more than the entire planet installed in 2022. The world is on track to add 1 TW per year by 2030.
In 1977, $1,000 bought you 13 watts of solar. Today it buys 9,091 watts — a 700× increase in buying power. That same wattage would power an average home for 3+ hours every sunny day, from a panel that cost a third of a day's wages.