"The Role Solar Energy will play in our Energy Future" by Prof Green Martin | 10 Jan 2024

IAS NTU Lee Kong Chian Distinguished Professor Public Lecture by Prof Green Martin, Millennium Technology Prize 2022; University of New South Wales.

Over the last decade, the cost of converting solar energy into electricity using solar cells has dropped very dramatically with such solar photovoltaics providing “now the cheapest source of electricity in most countries” and “now offering some of the lowest cost electricity ever seen”, according to the International Energy Agency. However, improvements are in the pipeline that some commentators believe may lead to an era of “insanely cheap” solar power, within the coming decade. The talk described the developments leading to these cost reductions as well as the pending improvements that will allow solar to reach even lower costs over the remainder of this decade. The implications for how the world’s future energy is supplied was also discussed.