Solar power named the world’s cheapest energy source
October 8, 2025
By Liam Gilliver
Published on
08/10/2025 – 8:00 GMT+2
ADVERTISEMENTSolar energy has been branded the “key driver” in the world’s transition to clean, renewable power due to its ultra-low cost.
A new study from the University of Surrey named solar energy the cheapest source of power, outranking other renewables such as wind, as well as coal and gas.
Researchers found that, in the sunniest countries, solar costs as little as €0.023 to produce one unit of power.
Even in the UK, which sits 50 degrees north of the equator and is infamous for its dreary weather, solar came out victorious as the cheapest option for “large-scale energy generation”.
A ‘reliable’ source of power
Due to the price of lithium-ion batteries falling by 89 per cent since 2010, the study also found that making solar-plus-storage systems is now equally as cost-effective as gas power plants.
“These hybrid setups, which combine solarpanels with batteries, are now standard in many regions and allow solarenergy to be stored and released when needed, turning it into a more reliable, dispatchable source of power that helps balance grid demand,” the study explains.
The ‘biggest challenges’ of solar power
Despite solar’s cost-effectiveness, Dr Ehsan Rezaee, co-author of the study from the University of Surrey, says connecting growing levels of solar power to electricity networks remains one of the “biggest challenges” facing the industry.
“Smart grids, artificial intelligence forecasting, and stronger links between regions will be vital to keep power systems stable as renewable energy use rises,” the expert adds.
Innovations in materials such as perovskite solar cells could boost energy output by up to 50 per cent without increasing land use.
This technology requires significantly less energy compared to silicon cells, meaning more power can be generated from a smaller area.
They can also be applied to a wider range of surfaces, such as on buildings and vehicles due to being thinner and more flexible than their silicon counterparts, reducing the need to build huge solar farms.
However, Professor Ravi Silva, co-author of the study and Director of the ATI at the University of Surrey, says this progress depends on “consistent, long-term policy support”.
How much solar energy does Europe generate?
Data from Eurostat recently found that renewable energy sources hit 54 per cent between April and June this year, a 1.3 per cent increase compared to the same period in 2024.
The spike was thanks to a boom in solar energy, which generated an impressive 122,317 gigawatt-hours (GWh) in Q2 – enough to power roughly three million homes.
In fact, June 2025 was the first month in history where solar was the main source of electricity generated in the EU, accounting for 22 per cent of the energy mix.
Rob Stait of Alight, one of Europe’s leading solar developers, attributes solar’s boom to the fact that it is cheap, easy to install, and quick to scale.
“A solar farm can be developed in a year – compared to at least five years for wind and at least ten for nuclear,” he tells Euronews Green.
Stait adds that solar presents a key opportunity to “drastically reduce the reliance of Europe on oil and gas”, which remains volatile due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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