Madison, Wis., – Professor Gregory Nemet, the La Follette School of Public Affairs’ pioneering scholar in energy systems, technological innovation, and climate policy, released the second edition of his influential book on solar energy this summer. How Solar Energy Became Cheap examines the rapidly accelerating role of solar photovoltaics (PV) in the global energy transition and highlights lessons the United States can learn from other countries leading the way.
“The climate problem is getting worse, but the solutions are getting better,” Nemet says. “So far, no technology has done more for improving the solutions available to address climate change than solar photovoltaics.”
Since the first edition was published in 2019, developments in solar have been dramatic. Global adoption has quadrupled, costs have fallen by 75 percent, and solar manufacturing has become highly concentrated, with 85 percent of production now centered in a handful of countries. Adoption is also expanding faster in the Global South, while grid integration with high shares of solar has moved from theory to practice.
“We could potentially be on the verge of solar going fully mainstream around the world,” Nemet says. “Much of this hinges on whether the developing world aggressively pursues solar or chooses a fossil fuel-dependent path. But the current speed of solar adoption in the global south is highly encouraging for solar’s place in the world.”
Other major shifts include the rise of industrial policy as a central tool for accelerating deployment, diversification of production to increase energy security, and the emergence of “energy prosumers”, which are individuals and communities generating their own electricity.
The new edition incorporates these changes with updated data, expanded analysis, and new chapters that highlight the forces driving the world toward a solar-centric energy system, one in which solar moves from the edge to the core of electricity generation.
The book builds on Nemet’s broader work examining how technology and policy can accelerate climate solutions. Next month, he is hosting nearly two dozen of the world’s top climate policy and technology scholars on the UW-Madison campus to write the third edition of the influential State of Carbon Dioxide Removal report.
The biennial report is the first accessible, global and independent scientific assessment of carbon dioxide removal strategies that are becoming increasingly important tools to mitigate the effects of climate change. The October workshop will include a public discussion around current trends in climate action around the world.
Nemet was also recently appointed a Coordinating Lead Author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 7th Assessment Report, where he is co-leading a chapter titled “Enablers and Barriers.” The report is scheduled for release in 2028-29.
