Tech

Global cooperation has saved countries $67 billion in solar panel production costs


Solar power panels

Credit: CC0 . Public Domain

To reduce the carbon emissions that are driving climate change and meet climate goals, the world will need to deploy renewable energy at an unprecedented rate and scale. Solar energy holds the promise of playing an important role in achieving a sustainable, low-carbon energy future, especially if producer prices continue to fall as they have over the past 40 years.

Now, a new study is published in the journal Nature calculated that globalizing supply chains has saved countries $67 billion in solar panel production costs. The study also shows that if nationalist policies that restrict the free flow of goods, talent and capital are implemented in the future, solar panel costs will be much higher in 2020. 2030.

This study – the first to determine the cost savings of a globalized value chain for solar industry– results at a time when many countries have introduced policies that will nationalize energy supply chains to benefit local manufacturers. Policies such as imposition of import duties could complicate efforts to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy such as solar by increasing production costs, the researchers say.

“What this study tells us is that if we’re serious about fighting climate change, policymakers need to implement policies that promote climate change,” said John Helveston, lead author of the study. promote collaboration across global value chains related to the scaling up of low-carbon energy technologies. and assistant professor of engineering management and systems engineering at George Washington University. “Although this study focuses on one industry — solar energy — the impacts we describe here could apply to other industries. recycled energy industries, such as wind power and tram. ”

The study looked at historical installed capacity as well as input data and sales prices for solar panel module deployments in the US, Germany, and China – three energy deployment countries. largest solar energy – from 2006 to 2020. The team estimates that solar supply chain globalization has saved countries a total of $67 billion – $24 billion in savings for the US , $7 billion in savings for Germany and $36 billion in savings for China. If each of the three countries adopted strong nationalist trade policies restricting cross-border learning for the same amount of time, solar panel prices in 2020 would significantly higher — 107% higher in the US, 83% higher in Germany and 54% higher in China – the study found.

“Our research shows that international cooperation is the key to solve global climate change“, said Gang He, assistant professor of energy policy at Stony Brook University and the corresponding author of the paper. “Nationalist policies harm every country and risk missing pressing climate goals.”

The team also considers the cost impact of more protectionist trade policies in the future. They estimate that if strong ethnic policies are implemented, solar panel prices will be about 20-25% higher in each country by 2030, compared with a future with a globalized supply chain.

“Policies that cut off global value chains and restrict the flow of people and capital disrupt the global learning process,” said Michael Davidson, assistant professor at the University of California San Diego and co-author of the study. has precisely contributed to the success story of solar energy”. “The models that demonstrate the feasibility of meeting ambitious clean energy goals rely on continued cost reductions, which may not be possible if countries choose to go it alone.”

The study builds on a 2019 paper published by Helveston in the journal Scienceargues for working more with strong manufacturing partners like in China to rapidly reduce solar costs and accelerate the deployment of low-carbon energy technologies.

“The new Inflation Reduction Act includes many important policies that support the development of low-carbon energy technologies in the United States, which are critical to addressing climate change and will introduce more innovation and capabilities to the market,” said Helveston. What our research contributes to this conversation is a reminder not to implement these policies in a protectionist manner. Supporting U.S. manufacturing can and should be done in a way that encourages companies to trade with foreign partners to further accelerate cost-cutting.

Paper, “Quantifying the cost savings of the global solar photovoltaic supply chain” published by Nature.


India-led alliance helps diversify solar market


More information:
Gang He, Quantifying the cost savings of the global solar photovoltaic supply chain, Nature (In 2022). DOI: 10.1038 / s41586-022-05316-6. www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05316-6

Quote: The global partnership has saved countries $67 billion in solar panel manufacturing costs (2022, October 26) retrieved October 26, 2022 from https:// techxplore.com/news/2022-10-global-collaboration-countries-billion-solar.html

This document is the subject for the collection of authors. Apart from any fair dealing for personal study or research purposes, no part may be reproduced without written permission. The content provided is for informational purposes only.

news7f

News7F: Update the world's latest breaking news online of the day, breaking news, politics, society today, international mainstream news .Updated news 24/7: Entertainment, Sports...at the World everyday world. Hot news, images, video clips that are updated quickly and reliably

Related Articles

Back to top button