Over the past ten years, solar energy expenses have plummeted by 90%, and recent innovations have led to higher efficiency levels.
A new research indicates that rooftop solar panels could fulfill the complete energy requirements of over 30 million European households.
The study, conducted by Germany’s Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, suggests that over half of the 41 million detached homes in Europe could have achieved energy self-sufficiency in 2020 through the use of solar panels and battery storage, a number projected to increase to 75 percent by 2050.
Improvements in solar technology are set to make it financially feasible for some of these independent single-family homes to disconnect from the power grid entirely in the future years.
However, the study authors argue that from a broader economic perspective, it’s more practical for households to stay grid-connected and supply surplus power to others when there’s an abundance of energy production.
“Our findings indicate that by 2050, while going off-grid might not be the cheapest option, investing in self-sufficient properties could be justifiable for those prepared to pay a premium for independence,” said Max Kleinebrahm, the study’s lead author and an energy economics expert at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.
He added, “A mass migration away from the grid would be less effective compared to households contributing to and reinforcing the existing grid infrastructure.”
These findings were outlined in a paper titled ‘Two million European single-family homes could abandon the grid by 2050’, featured in the academic periodical Joule.
Solar panel costs have experienced a substantial decrease lately, with solar energy becoming almost 90 per cent cheaper in the past ten years, as determined by the Berlin-based Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC) in their September analysis.
Lead investigator Felix Creutzig has suggested that the plunging prices might enable solar technology alongside other renewable resources to affordably meet global energy demands by 2050.
In a related study last month by teams at the University of Exeter and University College London, findings indicated that solar energy has surpassed a decisive threshold and is on track to become the dominant energy source worldwide within thirty years.
“With the latest advances in renewable energy, scenarios dominated by fossil fuels are becoming outdated,” stated Femke Nijsse of the University of Exeter.
She explained, “Employing three models that account for positive reinforcements, our projections see solar PV becoming the cornerstone of the global energy landscape by the mid-21st century.”
