Solar power is becoming bigger than nuclear

toomuchtodo

https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/installed-solar-pv-capaci... (already out of date due to solar PV deployment velocity, the world crossed 3TW of cumulative deployed capacity earlier this year) https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/solar-pv-prices The World Crossed a Major Solar Milestone [3TW] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49151977 - August 2026

dyauspitr

Why do I keep getting $20k quotes to install it then in the US. We seem to be doing something incorrectly here. The underlying hardware seems cheap (through independent research) but the labor and add in fees seem to be making this expensive. At sub $10k prices for the panels + batteries I would get it yesterday.

Havoc

More stoked for when the same is said for storage. Solar is cool but solar that can make it through the night and a couple cloudy days is way cooler

bhouston

It is amazing that solar, a ridiculous cheap and easy to install solution is winning the energy future. In the past, based mostly on playing SimCity, I would have thought that Nuclear and then Fusion was the future, but solar does seem to be winning and pretty thoroughly. I guess this is in part because it only needs amazing factories and not complex deployed and maintained infrastructure that is at risk of blowing up. Solar seems to fix the mould of a disruptive technology to a T.

VeejayRampay

solar is not pilotable like nuclear though it's a great source of energy mind you, but I kind of wince everytime people are trying to say it's better than nuclear (if you put the dangerosity of the raw material aside of course) there are excellent storage capacities now, which helps a lot, but nuclear stays unmatched in producing vast amounts of electricity on demand (as long as we're not in a brutal heat wave to be fair)

laweijfmvo

I think we’ll see a pivot from the right on solar soon, once they realize how cheap it is and how much money they can make. They’ll spin it as home-grown local jobs stuff but regardless it’s a win-win.

khalic

I'm happy if we don't need more nuclear. We're already leaving the place in a sorry state, might as well not litter it with stuff that can kill you if you look at it too long...

Bender

The price coming down is great, more accessibility to more people. Have there been any significant breakthroughs in overall average efficiency/conversion? e.g. 30%+ Asking for my own selfish needs as I am in a place with reduce sunlight availability.

jaffa2

arghhh ‘quietly becoming’ I smell AI

everdrive

Is it? I keep hearing something like $30k. That might pay for itself over time, but it's hardly cheap.

everdrive

Does anyone understand why you can't generally use solar when the power goes out? Is it just risk to line workers? (Couldn't you just auto-disconnect from the mains?) Is it just too variable to be useful enough on its own? Is my premise just wrong? [edit] According to HN you can totally do this and I'm just wrong.

realusername

I'd rather focus on the fact that neither coal or gas seems to go own.

ZeroGravitas

Judging by the source data: https://ember-energy.org/data/electricity-data-explorer/?tem... Solar's global peak month in (northern hemisphere) summer 2024 nearly equaled nuclear, the full calendar year 2025 slightly beat nuclear and now it's possible that the next yearly minimum month coming up this december will match nuclear. That's a lot of change in just 2.5 years. Also, the graph shows the world needs more wind power as it counter cycles both solar and hydro supply.

postepowanieadm

Poland is going all on solar. People are enthusiastic about generating their own power, government had to step in and curb the enthusiasm.

WalterGR

For more, see “Solar surpasses nuclear power globally for first time” with 464 comments from 9 days ago. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50131256

hdjdnxjzhzhs

Solar power is nuclear! Before you get angry, remember what the sun is....

protocolture

<subsidised, officially sanctioned by nearly every government, regulated to be easily deployed> technology overtaking <banned by several governments, mired in red tape, with a huge opposing lobby with deep pockets that's part of every group that should be supporting it> technology who would have thunk it.

HexnMarcusWolfe

It's been cheaper than nuclear for a while now, it was only a matter of time. Personally i'm waiting for the next iterations of Kesterite cells. If we can get single cells to crack ~20% efficiency. With a tandem cell architecture, it's going to become the new standard overnight. Durability of silicon cells or better, but orders of magnitude $ cheaper to produce, and without the need to use toxic agents as in perovskite cells. We're movin' fast. For over a decade we were stuck at ~12% efficiency. And in the last 4 years (probably with AI help) we've cracked 15% efficiency https://interestingengineering.com/energy/chinese-researcher... Few more years, and with a bit of luck, we'll all be around to see solar panels that cost 1/10th of what they do now.

vivzkestrel

https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/indias-electrotech-...

Evidlo

Is there any practical way for US individuals to invest in solar? With the anti-solar attitude from the government, is now a good time given that's where the world is obviously headed?