PLAY PODCASTS
A Solar Boom Without the Subsidy Gloom

A Solar Boom Without the Subsidy Gloom

Switched On

December 17, 201919m 16s

Audio is streamed directly from the publisher (podtrac.com) as published in their RSS feed. Play Podcasts does not host this file. Rights-holders can request removal through the copyright & takedown page.

Show Notes

In solar’s early days, getting electrons from solar panel to power grid was as much a financial as a technical challenge. Photovoltaic power cost more than conventional grid power, and so deploying it required government subsidy of some kind. Those subsidies could create a booming market, and gloom thereafter when subsidies expired. However, with more than a decade of decreasing costs and increasing efficiency, solar is now not just cheap enough to be viable - it is often cheaper than any other source of power in a given market. This competitive position is driving a boom in Spain, Portugal, and Italy. This week on Switched On we talk with Pietro Radoia about this coming-of-age for solar, and the challenges this boom brings.

This episode is based on a report titled Europe’s Subsidy-Free PV Market Takes Off.

BNEF clients can access this report on bnef.com or BNEF Mobile, or at BNEF<GO> on the Bloomberg Terminal.

Switched On is hosted this week by Mark Taylor and Dana Perkins.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.