Since the year 1980 solar panel prices have dropped by at least 10 percent every single year.
The history of solar panel.
In 1956 solar panels cost roughly 300 per watt.
Its history spans from the 7th century b c.
We started out concentrating the sun s heat with glass and mirrors to light fires.
The history of solar panels can be described by becquerel s discovery of photovoltaic effect or the invention of first solar cell by chapin fuller and pearson in bell labs.
Currently solar panels average between 15 and 18 percent efficiency and can cost as low as 0 50 per watt.
But the story is much larger than just that.
A brief history of solar panels inventors have been advancing solar technology for more than a century and a half and improvements in efficiency and aesthetics keep on coming.
Today we have everything from solar powered buildings to solar powered vehicles.
Today a solar panel can cost as little as 0 50 a watt.
By 1975 that figure had dropped to just over 100 a watt.
The history of solar power is not as recent as some may think as the technology has existed since the 19th century and has received substantial government support since at least the 1970s.
Since the 1980s the cost of solar panels has dropped 10 percent per year on average.
Solar technology isn t new.
With the long history of solar technology it s notable that the real sea change for solar has been in the past few decades.
Since the beginning of life on earth the sun has been the ultimate source of all energy.