#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.

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