How did the solar industry grow up so quickly over the past 15 years, and what does its future look like? In this episode, we talk with the founder of the solar team at Bloomberg New Energy Finance, who’s had a front-row seat to the industry’s development, about the many booms and busts it has seen over the past 15 years, and about what we should expect from the sector going forward. Does solar need a big new innovation to keep growing and displacing fossil-fueled power plants, or does it just need to keep going on its existing trajectory? How much cheaper can solar get? For that matter, is continuing to get cheaper even desirable? And how much can solar do to help lift the developing world out of poverty? We answer these and many more questions in this episode.
Jenny Chase founded the solar team within analysis startup New Energy Finance in 2005, straight out of university and with no idea what she was doing. She still leads the team today after its acquisition by financial media company Bloomberg in 2010. The BNEF solar team, as it is known now, researches and writes about solar demand, supply, price, investment and technology developments for financial, corporate and government clients. Jenny lives in Switzerland with her husband, daughter and small flock of rare breed West of England geese, and has a BA and MSci in physics from the University of Cambridge, England.
On Twitter: @solar_chase
On the Web: www.bnef.com
Recording date: September 8, 2020
Air date: October 14, 2020
Geek rating: 5