When the sun shines, no question about it solar is the cheapest. But is it still the cheapest when you account for battery storage?
Remember, poor countries can't just print dollars to buy batteries from China. If they don't have domestic manufacturing capacity, they have to spend foreign exchange reserves to pay for the imports. That gets expensive real quick.
Developing countries also often lack the technical talent available in wealthier ones. Quickly spinning up battery manufacturing can be difficult to do.
All I'm saying is: don't assume these countries haven't done the math for themselves. Saying "just use solar" might be sound advice. But it might also be a rich person telling a poor person to buy a Costco membership because it saves money. It's objectively correct but it may not be feasible for the poor person.
If anything developing countries are more open to the cheapest solution. They can't afford to get into ideological debates about whether climate change is real or worry about saving coal jobs by promoting "clean coal".
> But is it still the cheapest when you account for battery storage?
In India where the biggest load will be air conditioning and thus correspond with sunshine? Definitely.
But the answer was different two years ago. Electricity projects are often decades in scale and takes time to propogate.
But you're right about costs. Solar and batteries are all the cost up front. Poor people and poor countries are often forced to buy more expensive things just because they can be purchased on an installment plant. A fossil fuel plant is cheaper up front but you have to continuously buy fuel. It only becomes more expensive after ten years or so.
Remember, poor countries can't just print dollars to buy batteries from China. If they don't have domestic manufacturing capacity, they have to spend foreign exchange reserves to pay for the imports. That gets expensive real quick.
Developing countries also often lack the technical talent available in wealthier ones. Quickly spinning up battery manufacturing can be difficult to do.
All I'm saying is: don't assume these countries haven't done the math for themselves. Saying "just use solar" might be sound advice. But it might also be a rich person telling a poor person to buy a Costco membership because it saves money. It's objectively correct but it may not be feasible for the poor person.
If anything developing countries are more open to the cheapest solution. They can't afford to get into ideological debates about whether climate change is real or worry about saving coal jobs by promoting "clean coal".