A recent article in The Telegraph argues that a specific threshold has been crossed on the road to global solar dominance. Among the factors mentioned in the article are the fact that "There are already 19 regional markets around the world in which PV solar panels can match or undercut local electricity prices without subsidy," and the assertion by the US Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) that, "More solar has been installed in the US in the past 18 months than in 30 years."
The threshold argument comes from the recognition of solar power's having entered a "virtuous circle" due to the rapidly rising cost of producing energy from fossil fuel and the rapidly falling price of photovoltaic energy. The cost of producing solar power is expected to fall to $1.60 per watt by 2020, which "will put it within striking distance of oil and gas."
Even at current prices, the negative effects of burning fossil fuel (including the hidden financial costs of treating the sick and cleaning up pollution) make solar the most attractive option for more and more cities and governments around the world. The increased demand will cause increased investment in solar technology, further reducing its cost, making it the best option in even more cases, etc…
The article concludes by repeating the words that Sheikh Ahmed-Zaki Yamani, the veteran Saudi oil minister, said inThe Telegraph in 2000:
"Thirty years from now there will be a huge amount of oil - and no buyers. Oil will be left in the ground. The Stone Age came to an end, not because we had a lack of stones, and the oil age will come to an end not because we have a lack of oil."
Believers should take a look at the Guggenheim Solar ETF (TAN), which you can buy today for just under $40 per share—a 20% discount from its price just six weeks ago.
Julian Close has been a business writer since the first day of the twenty-first century, having written for PRA International and the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping. He graduated from Davidson College in 1993 and received a Master of Arts in Teaching from Mary Baldwin College in 2011. He became a stockbroker in 1993, but now works for Fresh Brewed Media and uses his powers only for good. You can see closing trades for all Julian's long and short positions and track his long term performance via twitter: @JulianClose_MIC.