Future Of Solar Energy

Solar technology is now poised to play a larger role in the future, thanks to new developments that could result in lower costs and improved efficiency. In fact, the solar PV industry aims to provide half of all new U.S. electricity generation by 2025. More and more architects are recognizing the value of active and passive solar and learning how to effectively incorporate it into building designs. Solar hot water systems can compete economically with conventional systems in some areas. Perhaps the future is here now. Shell has predicted that 50% of the world's energy will come from renewable sources by 2040. In recent years manufacturing costs of photovoltaic cells has dropped by 3-5% per year while government subsidies have increased. While to some such facts about solar energy seem trivial, this makes solar energy an ever-more affordable energy source. In the next few years it is expected that millions of households in the world will be using solar energy as the trends in USA and Japan show. Aggressive financial incentives in Germany and Japan have made these countries global leaders in solar deployment for years.