Editing Renewable energy (section)

==== Photovoltaics ====
{{Main|Growth of photovoltaics|Solar power by country|List of photovoltaic power stations}}
[[File:1975 – Price of solar panels as a function of cumulative installed capacity.svg|thumb |[[Swanson's law]]–stating that solar module prices have dropped about 20% for each doubling of installed capacity—defines the "[[Experience curve effects|learning rate]]" of [[photovoltaics|solar photovoltaics]].<ref name=SolarPVlearningCurve>{{cite web |title=Solar (photovoltaic) panel prices vs. cumulative capacity |url=https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/solar-pv-prices-vs-cumulative-capacity |website=OurWorldInData.org |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250124235542/https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/solar-pv-prices-vs-cumulative-capacity |archive-date=24 January 2025 |date=2024 |url-status=live }} OWID credits source data to: Nemet (2009); Farmer & Lafond (2016); International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA, 2024).</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/Is-there-really-a-Swansons-Law |title=Swanson's Law and Making US Solar Scale Like Germany |work=Greentech Media |date=2014-11-24}}</ref>]]
A [[photovoltaic system]], consisting of [[solar cell]]s assembled into [[Solar panel|panels]], converts light into electrical [[direct current]] via the [[photoelectric effect]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dai |first1=Zhenbang |last2=Rappe |first2=Andrew M. |title=Recent progress in the theory of bulk photovoltaic effect |journal=Chemical Physics Reviews |date=1 March 2023 |volume=4 |issue=1 |doi=10.1063/5.0101513|arxiv=2206.00602 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Energy Sources: Solar|work=Department of Energy |url=https://www.energy.gov/energysources/solar.htm |access-date=19 April 2011|archive-date=14 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110414081047/http://www.energy.gov/energysources/solar.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> PV has several advantages that make it by far the fastest-growing renewable energy technology. It is cheap, low-maintenance and scalable; adding to an existing PV installation as demanded arises is simple. Its main disadvantage is its poor performance in cloudy weather.<ref name=":2" />

PV systems range from small, residential and commercial [[Rooftop solar power|rooftop]] or [[Building-integrated photovoltaics|building integrated]] installations,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Petter Jelle |first1=Bjørn |last2=Breivik |first2=Christer |last3=Drolsum Røkenes |first3=Hilde |title=Building integrated photovoltaic products: A state-of-the-art review and future research opportunities |journal=Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells |date=May 2012 |volume=100 |pages=69–96 |doi=10.1016/j.solmat.2011.12.016|bibcode=2012SEMSC.100...69P |hdl=11250/2436844 |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Luthander |first1=Rasmus |last2=Widén |first2=Joakim |last3=Nilsson |first3=Daniel |last4=Palm |first4=Jenny |title=Photovoltaic self-consumption in buildings: A review |journal=Applied Energy |date=March 2015 |volume=142 |pages=80–94 |doi=10.1016/j.apenergy.2014.12.028|bibcode=2015ApEn..142...80L |url=http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-113676 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Chung |first1=Hsien-Ching |title=The Long-Term Usage of an Off-Grid Photovoltaic System with a Lithium-Ion Battery-Based Energy Storage System on High Mountains: A Case Study in Paiyun Lodge on Mt. Jade in Taiwan |journal=Batteries |date=13 June 2024 |volume=10 |issue=6 |pages=202 |doi=10.3390/batteries10060202|doi-access=free |arxiv=2405.04225 }}</ref> to large utility-scale [[photovoltaic power station]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fereidooni |first1=Mojtaba |last2=Mostafaeipour |first2=Ali |last3=Kalantar |first3=Vali |last4=Goudarzi |first4=Hossein |title=A comprehensive evaluation of hydrogen production from photovoltaic power station |journal=Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews |date=February 2018 |volume=82 |pages=415–423 |doi=10.1016/j.rser.2017.09.060|bibcode=2018RSERv..82..415F }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Buerhop |first1=Claudia |last2=Bommes |first2=Lukas |last3=Schlipf |first3=Jan |last4=Pickel |first4=Tobias |last5=Fladung |first5=Andreas |last6=Peters |first6=Ian Marius |title=Infrared imaging of photovoltaic modules: a review of the state of the art and future challenges facing gigawatt photovoltaic power stations |journal=Progress in Energy |date=1 October 2022 |volume=4 |issue=4 |pages=042010 |doi=10.1088/2516-1083/ac890b|bibcode=2022PrEne...4d2010B }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Solar Integrated in New Jersey |url=http://jcwinnie.biz/wordpress/?p=1724 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130719075405/http://jcwinnie.biz/wordpress/?p=1724 |archive-date=19 July 2013 |access-date=20 August 2013 |publisher=Jcwinnie.biz}}</ref> A household's solar panels can either be used for just that household or, if connected to an electrical grid, can be aggregated with millions of others.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sommerfeldt |first1=Nelson |last2=Madani |first2=Hatef |title=Revisiting the techno-economic analysis process for building-mounted, grid-connected solar photovoltaic systems: Part one – Review |journal=Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews |date=July 2017 |volume=74 |pages=1379–1393 |doi=10.1016/j.rser.2016.11.232|bibcode=2017RSERv..74.1379S }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sommerfeldt |first1=Nelson |last2=Madani |first2=Hatef |title=Revisiting the techno-economic analysis process for building-mounted, grid-connected solar photovoltaic systems: Part two - Application |journal=Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews |date=July 2017 |volume=74 |pages=1394–1404 |doi=10.1016/j.rser.2017.03.010|bibcode=2017RSERv..74.1394S }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Getting the most out of tomorrow's grid requires digitisation and demand response |url=https://www.economist.com/technology-quarterly/2022/06/23/getting-the-most-out-of-tomorrows-grid-requires-digitisation-and-demand-response |access-date=2022-06-24 |newspaper=[[The Economist]] |issn=0013-0613}}</ref>

The first utility-scale solar power plant was built in 1982 in [[Hesperia, California]] by [[ARCO]].<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.osti.gov/biblio/5049780 |title=Design, installation and performance of ARCO solar photovoltaic power plants |journal=Conf. Rec. IEEE Photovoltaic Spec. Conf.; (United States)|date=May 1984 |osti=5049780 |last1=Tolbert |first1=R. E. L. |last2=Arnett |first2=J. C. }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The History of Solar |url=https://www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/pdfs/solar_timeline.pdf |access-date=April 7, 2024 |website=U.S. Department of Energy}}</ref> The plant was not profitable and was sold eight years later.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lee |first=Patrick |date=1990-01-12 |title=Arco Sells Last 3 Solar Plants for $2 Million : Energy: The sale to New Mexico investors demonstrates the firm's strategy of focusing on its core oil and gas business. |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-01-12-fi-323-story.html |access-date=2024-04-07 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref> However, over the following decades, PV cells became significantly more efficient and cheaper.<ref name="deutsche-2015-chasm">{{cite web |date=27 February 2015 |title=Crossing the Chasm |url=https://www.db.com/cr/en/docs/solar_report_full_length.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150330174336/https://www.db.com/cr/en/docs/solar_report_full_length.pdf |archive-date=30 March 2015 |publisher=Deutsche Bank Markets Research}}</ref> As a result, PV adoption has grown exponentially since 2010.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ravishankar |first1=Rashmi |last2=AlMahmoud |first2=Elaf |last3=Habib |first3=Abdulelah |last4=de Weck |first4=Olivier L. |date=January 2022 |title=Capacity Estimation of Solar Farms Using Deep Learning on High-Resolution Satellite Imagery |journal=Remote Sensing |language=en |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=210 |doi=10.3390/rs15010210 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2022RemS...15..210R |issn=2072-4292|hdl=1721.1/146994 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Global capacity increased from 230 GW at the end of 2015 to 890 GW in 2021.<ref name="IRENA2018">{{cite web |title=Renewable Electricity Capacity And Generation Statistics June 2018 |url=http://resourceirena.irena.org/gateway/dashboard/?topic=4&subTopic=54 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181128034842/http://resourceirena.irena.org/gateway/dashboard/?topic=4&subTopic=54 |archive-date=28 November 2018 |access-date=27 November 2018}}</ref> PV grew fastest in China between 2016 and 2021, adding 560 GW, more than all advanced economies combined.<ref name="IEA-3" /> Four of the ten biggest solar power stations are in China, including the biggest, [[Huanghe Hydropower Golmud Solar Park|Golmud Solar Park]] in China.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ahmad |first=Mariam |date=2023-05-30 |title=Top 10: Largest Solar Power Parks |url=https://energydigital.com/top10/top-10-largest-solar-power-parks |access-date=2024-04-07 |website=energydigital.com |language=en}}</ref>

[[Solar cell#Recycling|Solar panels are recycled]] to reduce [[electronic waste]] and create a source for materials that would otherwise need to be mined,<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2021-08-23 |title=Solar Panel Recycling |url=https://www.epa.gov/hw/solar-panel-recycling |access-date=2022-05-02 |website=www.epa.gov |language=en}}</ref> but such business is still small and work is ongoing to improve and scale-up the process.<ref name="techrev">{{cite web |title=Solar panels are a pain to recycle. These companies are trying to fix that. |url=https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/08/19/1032215/solar-panels-recycling/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211108103705/https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/08/19/1032215/solar-panels-recycling/ |archive-date=8 November 2021 |access-date=8 November 2021 |website=MIT Technology Review}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Heath |first1=Garvin A. |last2=Silverman |first2=Timothy J. |last3=Kempe |first3=Michael |last4=Deceglie |first4=Michael |last5=Ravikumar |first5=Dwarakanath |last6=Remo |first6=Timothy |last7=Cui |first7=Hao |last8=Sinha |first8=Parikhit |last9=Libby |first9=Cara |last10=Shaw |first10=Stephanie |last11=Komoto |first11=Keiichi |last12=Wambach |first12=Karsten |last13=Butler |first13=Evelyn |last14=Barnes |first14=Teresa |last15=Wade |first15=Andreas |date=July 2020 |title=Research and development priorities for silicon photovoltaic module recycling to support a circular economy |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-020-0645-2 |url-status=live |journal=Nature Energy |volume=5 |issue=7 |pages=502–510 |bibcode=2020NatEn...5..502H |doi=10.1038/s41560-020-0645-2 |issn=2058-7546 |s2cid=220505135 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210821071335/https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-020-0645-2 |archive-date=21 August 2021 |access-date=26 June 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Domínguez |first1=Adriana |last2=Geyer |first2=Roland |date=1 April 2019 |title=Photovoltaic waste assessment of major photovoltaic installations in the United States of America |journal=Renewable Energy |volume=133 |pages=1188–1200 |bibcode=2019REne..133.1188D |doi=10.1016/j.renene.2018.08.063 |issn=0960-1481 |s2cid=117685414}}</ref>