Solar panel costs have declined from $5/watt to $0.25/watt over the last 25 years. Due to the scale and risks involved in solar panel manufacturing, “…making solar panels is a horrible business,” according to Jenny Chase with Bloomberg NEF. And the same result is likely to happen with manufacturing the other key new energy technology: batteries. What’s bad news for solar and battery manufacturers is great news for energy-hungry customers. The core component of a power plant -- regardless of size -- is now a dirt-cheap commodity. Coal, oil and natural gas can’t keep up with PV power cost declines. Even nuclear, geothermal and wind power are challenged because these remotely constructed power plants require outrageously expensive high voltage transmission lines that take over a decade to design and construct. Our guest on this week’s Energy Show is Neal Dikeman with Energy Transition Ventures. It’s almost impossible to contain Neal's enthusiasm about new business opportunities presented by "almost free" solar and battery power. So please join me as Neal riffs on the changes happening with clean tech investing at www.energyshow.biz.
