Solar power is the cheapest, and the moment of the light bulb literally shows us that we can cut costs and emissions even further
Recent extreme weather events have underscored the need to reduce CO₂ emissions that increase global temperatures. This requires a rapid transition from an energy economy to renewable energy sources, the cheapest of which is solar photovoltaic (PV). And our recently published research shows how we can lower shift costs even further using a cheaper form of silicon for highly efficient solar panels. Australia has taken the lead with solar PV installations, but our solar energy journey has only just begun. This year, humanity reached the milestone of 1 terawatt (TW) – 1 million × 1 million watts – installed solar capacity. However, experts predict 70TW of solar PV may be needed by 2050 to power all sectors of the economy. To help drive this rapid uptake of solar PV, we need solar panels with high efficiency and low cost. Over the past ten years, several new solar cell designs have resulted in record high efficiency. The problem is that this design also requires higher quality materi