Renewable Energy Is Now Cheaper Than Fossil Fuels

Green energy lovers listen up: for the first time since the introduction of renewable energy into the energy market, electricity produced from solar and wind is now either the same price or cheaper than fossil fuel in more than 30 countries.

While the average global LCOE (short for levelized cost of electricity) for coal and natural gas stands at around $100 per megawatt-hour, the price for solar has plummeted from $600 a decade ago to $300 only five years later, and is now close to or below $100 for energy produced from photovoltaic cells. For wind, the LCOE is even lower at around $50.

And the best part: the low costs of solar and wind energy is already encouraging companies to build more plants to harvest it with the US alone adding about 125 solar panels every minute. Other economic powerhouses such as China are also jumping on the green energy train and expanding their networks.

The World Economic Forum even estimates that by 2020 solar energy will be cheaper than coal or natural gas around the globe.