What the numbers mean
The same unit of solar power, at roughly a tenth of the cost.
IRENA's global weighted average fell from USD 0.417 to USD 0.043 per kilowatt-hour. A 2010 cost of 100 becomes about 10 in 2024.
Read the sourcesCompare whole lifetimes
Levelised cost of electricity, or LCOE, spreads a plant's costs across its expected lifetime output. IRENA gives larger new projects more weight in each year's average. It measures generation cost; a household electricity bill includes other charges too. [1]
One huge fall, many small changes
Cheaper equipment, manufacturing scale and improved efficiency helped drive the decline. Yet global solar LCOE was almost flat from 2023 to 2024. Progress does not follow a perfect downhill line: a long trend cannot promise lower costs every year or everywhere. [1]
Cheap generation still needs a working grid
The International Energy Agency explains why a plant's generation cost cannot describe a whole electricity system. Solar output changes with daylight and weather. Batteries, power lines, shifts in when people use electricity and other generators help match supply to demand. Cost matters, and so does having power at the moment it is needed. [2]