“Ten years ago, solar cost $10 to install one watt of generation capacity,” says Dr. Shawn Qu, president and CEO of solar power company Canadian Solar. “This year you can do it for less than one dollar per watt. In some parts of the world, solar power is already as competitive as fossil fuel.”
Coupled with the emergence of new technologies for energy storage, renewable energy holds out the almost inconceivable promise of free electricity for consumers. But that does not mean that energy companies will disappear overnight, says Inken Braunschmidt, chief innovation officer at German renewable energy company Innogy. “At some time in the future, we will no longer earn money with the electrons,” she says. “We will earn money instead with the data and the digits, providing the data services and solutions that consumers and communities require”
