The economics of solar energy

Umit Bulut

Chapter 117 in Elgar Encyclopedia of Energy Economics, 2025, pp 444-445 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Many seminars and conferences have been held to address environmental challenges caused by countries’ high use of fossil fuels so far. Reducing fossil fuel consumption and increasing renewable resource use is necessary for economic and ecological stability. Solar energy appears to be the best renewable source on Earth due to its various benefits. Accordingly, solar energy reduces greenhouse gas emissions, improves land and water quality, increases energy supply, provides energy security and independence, and gives rural communities in emerging economies access to power. Two fundamental components make up solar energy technology: photovoltaic (PV) cells and concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies. PV cells convert sunlight directly into electricity, whereas CSP technologies convert sunlight into heat, which drives energy-generating steam turbines. The cost of photovoltaic (PV) cells has decreased significantly over recent decades due to increased investments and technological developments in the solar energy industry. Hence, the share of solar energy in total installed capacity and in total electricity generation from renewables has increased in recent decades.

Keywords: Environmental Problems; Renewable Energy; Electricity Generation; Solar Energy; Solar Photovoltaic Cells; Concentrating Solar Power Technologies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781035310364
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.elgaronline.com/doi/10.4337/9781035310371.000122 (application/pdf)
Our link check indicates that this URL is bad, the error code is: 403 Forbidden

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:elg:eechap:22238_117

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.e-elgar.com

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Chapters from Edward Elgar Publishing
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Jack Sweeney ().