#08 The Rise of Solar PV (with Prof. Gregory Nemet)

"Solar energy is a substantial global industry, one that has generated trade disputes among superpowers, threatened the solvency of large energy companies, and prompted serious reconsideration of electric utility regulation rooted in the 1930s. One of the biggest payoffs from solar’s success is not the clean inexpensive electricity it can produce, but the lessons it provides for innovation in other technologies needed to address climate change.", says the description of UW–Madison professor Gregory F. Nemet's 2019 book: How Solar Energy Became Cheap.

Nemet is a former teacher of mine and was kind enough to guest in today's episode. We talk about different ways countries utilize PV's, and solar's relationship to other emerging technologies. For although the first commercial solar cell was available in 1957, wide use hasn't been implemented until recent years. Why did it take so long to build traction? What can other technologies and innovations learn from solar energy? And what's the point of solar when the weather is bad?

All this and more in episode 8: The Rise of Solar PV.

— The NTNU Energy Transition Podcast aims to function as a knowledge hub that empowers individuals and organizations in Europe and beyond to tackle climate change and move our global society toward carbon neutrality. New episodes every Thursday. The NTNU Energy Transition Initiative was established to deliver world-leading research on energy transition strategies, to achieve the Paris ambitions in an efficient and realistic way. Every spring we organize the NTNU Energy Conference in Trondheim, Norway. You can find us on Twitter, LinkedIn, and on our webpage. Please reach out by mail to energytransition@ntnu.no.