Solar energy: from 414% more expensive than coal to 56% cheaper in thirteen years

There is a figure that pessimists about energy have not yet absorbed: in 2010, solar electricity cost 414% more than the average fossil alternative. By 2023, it costs 56% less. This is a complete reversal, documented by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in its report published in September 2024.

This trajectory follows what economists call Wright’s Law: every time installed capacity doubles, costs fall by a constant fraction. Solar has followed this curve faster than expected — an 88% fall in fifteen years. Storage batteries have accompanied the movement: -89% since 2010.

In 2023, renewable energy accounted for 86% of new electricity capacity installed worldwide, with solar alone responsible for 73% of this growth.

This is no longer a transition in the early stages. It is a structural transformation already accomplished in the figures. What remains is to accelerate it in the territories where financing and distribution networks have not yet caught up — and where the benefits of this cost reduction are still awaited.

Further reading: The Energy Transition: The Curve That Changes Everything