Solar power is the cheapest it’s ever been—so why isn't it more popular?

by Grace Lau

According to the Guardian, the difference between solar prices 60 years ago and solar prices today is pretty incredible. Back then, solar power cost the equivalent of $1,910 in today’s currency... per watt.

But after decades of solar technology’s improvements, the prices just kept dropping. By 2016, it had fallen to less than $0.80 per watt.

The numbers are clear—the cost of installing solar power on your home is by far the lowest it’s ever been, and the technology is only getting better.

So, why aren’t we seeing solar panels on every house’s roof?

The up-front costs are still kinda high

To be fair, even though solar costs have come down considerably, it’s still a pretty hefty investment. Whether or not you think solar is worth it, the truth is not everyone has tens of thousands of dollars just lying around waiting to be spent on renewable energy.

Take your basic solar panel array on a house’s rooftop, for example. On average, a smaller solar panel system today will cost you about $5,000. (If you really want to splash out on a high-end, larger one, that can cost you as much as $40,000.)

And even though most households will make back their investment—and then some—this return on investment still takes time. Usually, at least a few years, but this is dependent on where you live and how much sunlight you get.

But that doesn’t mean that solar power is completely out of reach for the average person.

The thing is, there are many other creative and more bite-size (aka affordable) ways to get into solar power without installing a full-on solar array on your roof.

For example, tiny homes and off-gridders are able to get small solar arrays either on the roof or on the ground next to the house for a much more affordable price. (The nice thing about having a small footprint? You don’t need as much electricity to heat or power your home.)

Grouphug, for example, has made solar even more accessible by creating a solar panel for apartment-dwellers that can be hung in the window.

It can charge small devices like phones and wireless earbuds, and is an approachable (and affordable) way to dip your toes into solar power. Krystal Persaud, founder of Grouphug, has seen the brand grow right along with a change in how solar is being perceived. 

“Over the last few years, the conversation has really shifted from solar being not only good for the planet, but also good for your wallet,” she says. 

“Financially, rooftop or community solar just makes sense and you’ll save money in the long term. So you no longer have to identify as a "tree hugger" to want solar panels—you could just be someone who wants more money in your pocket—which is a much bigger audience.”

And beyond solar panels, there’s a plethora of other innovations like solar generators, solar water heaters, and even solar backpacks—all of which can help us reduce our dependence on gas and fuel.

People need to be… peer pressured into it?

According to the Harvard Business Review, one possible reason why solar adoption hasn’t picked up as much as expected is because of social influence.

This is fascinating because according to a survey they ran, people do want to support sustainable brands and products—65% of them, in fact. But the percentage of people who actually followed through on buying from these brands? Only 26%.

So, how can this “intention-action gap,” as HBR calls it, be solved?

The research team proposed five ways to tackle this problem: 

• Use social influence, 

• Shape good habits, 

• Leverage the domino effect, 

• Decide whether to talk to the heart or the brain, and 

• Favor experiences over ownership 

Essentially, to make solar power more popular, it needs more adopters first. People need to perceive it to be mainstream enough in order to make it more mainstream.

And one of the biggest barriers to getting into solar could be education. “Renewable energy is a highly technical field and can be really intimidating,” says Krystal.

“The conversations are typically about kilowatt hours and financing terms—not something the average person feels confident about. There's a huge opportunity to make the adoption process as easy as possible.”

As of right now, solar still hasn’t made it over that initial hump and entered the mainstream quite yet. According to the HBR’s hypothesis, once more of these dominos start falling and the perception starts changing, then solar should become more popular and more quickly. 

Solar batteries are expensive (but those prices are dropping too)

One of the key parts of a solar panel system? The solar battery (or batteries, if you have a larger system to support). 

Solar panels can only generate electricity—they can’t actually store that electricity. 

And since we don’t get sunlight at night, and some days are cloudy, we need a way to store that energy for times when the sun isn’t out. This is where solar batteries come in.

Unfortunately, solar batteries have historically been notoriously expensive, and this cost is probably one of the main deterrents for folks who are interested in solar power. But in this article by EcoWatch, they break down the costs of solar panel in 2021 and what to expect in terms of investing in them.

They’re not quite as expensive anymore, and according to Kelly Speakes-Backman, the CEO of the Energy Storage Association (an industry group in Washington), the unit cost of electricity produced from a system that runs on solar—including the battery—will drop roughly 10 to 15 percent each year in the near future up until 2024.

In Germany especially, solar systems that come with battery storage units are becoming more and more commonplace—even among people who don’t consider themselves environmentalists and who aren’t particularly wealthy. For now though, it’s safe to say that there’s still much research and development going into solar battery production and it’s likely that there will be continued efficiencies and price drops in the future.

Can we overcome the solar learning curve?

Even with so much progress having been made over the past 20 to 30 years, it’s still very early days for solar power. With continuing improvements in the technology itself and overall solar infrastructure around the world, solar power will only become more and more accessible.

Not to mention there’s the growing awareness that solar—or at least, some combination of solar and wind and other renewable sources of energy—can actually power all, if not a significant part, of our electricity needs. Together, these factors represent a remarkable opportunity to wean ourselves off of gas and fuel. The question is, will we be able to do it soon enough.