solar energy has more than doubled in price in the past three years, as prices are expected to keep rising.
Solar power prices have also surged in China, which is the world’s biggest solar market.
Solar prices in China rose by around 15 percent year-on-year in 2016, according to SolarWorld.
It is now worth $5,500 per megawatt-hour (MWh), which is 30 percent more than the global average, and is likely to reach around $10,000 per MWh by 2020.
SolarWorld, the global solar industry’s leading source of pricing data, expects prices to increase further in China and India, two countries that have historically enjoyed high solar penetration.
SolarWorld forecasts that prices in India will reach $4,200 per MWH by 2020, which means solar will be the cheapest form of energy for the majority of households in the country.
China’s solar market is still relatively small, however, with solar prices currently hovering around $1,500 a MWh.
In addition, solar penetration in China has been declining for some time, falling to 7 percent in the first quarter of 2018 from 9.5 percent in 2017, according the Solar Foundation.
Solar energy is also increasing in Australia, the world of the solar industry, with demand doubling from 2020 to 2021, according data from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.
The Australian Renewables Council said the increase in demand is mainly due to increased penetration in Australia and other emerging markets.
Solar electricity is also growing in China.
The country added more than 1.4 million megawatts of solar capacity in the third quarter of 2017, the largest increase in four years.
This represents more than one-third of all new solar capacity added in China over the same period.