Cheap panels do not make a cheap power system

The decline in solar costs is one of the clearest examples of learning through manufacturing. Our World in Data’s account, updated in April 2025, reports an 88% fall in the levelised cost of utility-scale solar electricity between 2009 and 2024, using Lazard’s estimates.

That measure spreads the cost of a generating asset across its expected lifetime output. It is useful when comparing generation technologies. It does not describe the full cost of supplying electricity at every hour a customer needs it.

For a business considering solar, the next questions concern the shape of demand, the connection, available space and any storage or backup required. A factory that uses most of its electricity during sunny hours faces a different calculation from a facility that must run continuously.

Our conclusion is a practical one: compare the complete system against the actual load. A cheaper panel improves the starting point, but it cannot settle the economics of every project. The historical cost decline is evidence about the past, not a quote for a new installation.