•  'Solar power is growing so quickly it is set to become the biggest source of electricity on the planet my 2035!' This is the evidenced prediction from a recent Special Report 'Dawn of the Solar Age' by the highly respected British weekly economics magazine, 'The Economist'.  (Clint Jasper & Peter Martin, 3/6/2024).

    * While data shows Nuclear power is barely increasing and SHRINKING proportionately in global power sources - SOLAR is growing so quickly it will become the biggest source of electricity by 2035.

    * By 2040s it could be the biggest source of all energy - greater than all fossil fuels!

    * The increase is exponential: installed capacity of solar has been doubling every 3 years BUT in the last 10 years it has increased  10 fold!

    * 'The Economist' report provides evidence to show that the next 10 fold increase will be the equivalent of the energy of EIGHT times the entire population of nuclear reactors - AND that increase will happen in less time than it takes to build one reactor!!

    * In 2004  it took the world one year to install one Gigawatt of solar power: 2024 that is happening EVERY DAY!  In 2023 China installed as much solar capacity as the entire world did in 2022!

    * COSTS of solar infrastructure are continuing to fall because supply is increasing AND the main ingredients are SUN (which is free!) and SAND (for silicon and glass):   Australia receives 10,000 times the amount of energy it requires annually AND it is completely free - from the Sun!  It also has a great deal of sand!

    * Storage BATTERY efficiency is rapidly increasing:  In Australia, modular batteries in shipping containers are already in use. United States of America is already planning to store solar produced electrical energy in containers in train carriages  and transporting energy from where it is produced best in the sunny remote interiors to the cities where demand is greatest! 

    * In Australia the Energy Market Regulator has reported reductions in the wholesale price of electricity from the central grid  because of electricity produced by large-scale  solar and wind AND rooftop solar:  lowest electricity prices are in South Australia and Tasmania that have the greatest amount of renewably produced electricity!

    * In Australia, nuclear energy is an absolute 'no brainer': not because it is expensive, dangerous, and takes a long time to build - BUT BECAUSE AUSTRALIA DOES NOT NEED IT - WE HAVE 10,000 X WHAT WE NEED FOR FREE!

    [Sources:  Peter Martin 'The Conversation' : Clint Jasper  'ABC News, 3/6/2024]. 

    ( by David Smith for 'Electrifying Bradfield Inc.)