Trend · rank 107 of 250

Solar manufacturing cost decline

Manufacturing scale and process improvement keep lowering the cost of solar equipment, changing national energy investment economics and concentrating production among the few nations with large and efficient suppliers.

Production & InnovationTrade, industry & supply chainsclean energymanufacturingpower

Second pass: Carried forward from the first pass, where it was Solar & storage cost collapse. Held by all three panel models.

Sensitivity and network position

Rank
107of 250
Sensitivity
10.0rank 116
Breadth
1of 20 scenarios High or above
PageRank
32.9rank 132
Eigenvector
0.6
Betweenness
23.9
Links
13trends at Moderate similarity or above
Composite
22.3

Attention over three years

How much this trend is read about on Wikipedia and searched for on Google, week by week, set against the typical trend in the list so that what moves every trend at once is taken out. 100 is this trend's own three-year average. The score measures public attention, which is not the same as the strength of the force: a trend can deepen unnoticed, and a news event can lift attention for a fortnight.

Now
81
Over a year
−15%Easing
Over three years
−34%
Peak
16019 May 2024
Sources
Bothagreement 0.55
Coverage
15languages · 28 nations

Trailing 4-week average. 100 is this trend’s three-year average.

By language

Wikipedia reading in each language edition where the trend’s pages are read enough to measure (15 of 28). Share is of all the readers counted.

LanguageShareNowOver a yearThree years
English56%103+10%
Japanese10%86−16%
German9%95+2%
Russian5%90+10%
French4%89+0%
Spanish3%100+0%
Chinese3%123+3%
Italian2%110+38%
Arabic1%72−21%
Polish1%79−24%
Persian1%52−55%
Korean1%83+0%
Dutch1%153+69%
Portuguese1%95+16%
Turkish1%58−20%

By country

Google search interest over the three years, as a share of each country’s searching. 100 is the nation where interest is highest. The search terms are English, which favours countries that search in English.

Pakistan

India

Nigeria

Sri Lanka

Bangladesh

Kenya

Qatar

United Arab Emirates

Australia

South Africa

Ireland

Nepal

100

17

17

14

12

11

8

8

7

7

6

6

The 12 highest of 28 nations with a reading.

By region and G20 member

Attention to this trend inside each place, from Google searches made in its countries and Wikipedia reading in the languages mostly read there, averaged where both exist. Each line compares the trend with its own past in that place; the lines do not compare places.

Regions

PlaceRead fromNow90 days1 year3 yearsThree years
North AmericaGoogle in 2 countries + Wikipedia in English114+29%+3%+11%
EuropeGoogle in 9 countries + Wikipedia in German, French, Italian, Polish, Dutch93−8%+6%−12%
Indo-PacificGoogle in 8 countries + Wikipedia in Japanese, Chinese, Korean86−6%−3%−30%
South AsiaGoogle in 4 countries72−28%−10%−21%
Gulf and Middle EastGoogle in 2 countries + Wikipedia in Persian, Arabic, Turkish64−38%+10%−44%
AfricaGoogle in 3 countries100+1%+25%−24%
Latin America and CaribbeanGoogle in 1 country + Wikipedia in Spanish, Portuguese100+15%+2%−15%
Russia and EurasiaGoogle in 1 country + Wikipedia in Russian112+20%+61%+23%

G20 members

PlaceRead fromNow90 days1 year3 yearsThree years
AustraliaGoogle136−3%+27%+40%
BrazilGoogle + Wikipedia in Portuguese99−1%+7%−17%
CanadaGoogle95−11%−18%+2%
FranceGoogle + Wikipedia in French48−43%+7%−63%
GermanyGoogle + Wikipedia in German90−5%−14%−13%
IndiaGoogle84−18%−15%−7%
IndonesiaGoogle49−21%−23%−78%
ItalyGoogle + Wikipedia in Italian106−1%+16%−2%
JapanGoogle + Wikipedia in Japanese98+16%−3%+3%
South KoreaGoogle + Wikipedia in Korean68−11%−18%−57%
RussiaWikipedia in Russian90−5%+10%−15%
Saudi ArabiaGoogle70−44%+637%−34%
South AfricaGoogle102+19%+11%−35%
TürkiyeWikipedia in Turkish58−34%−20%−58%
United KingdomGoogle141+34%+43%+51%
United StatesGoogle + Wikipedia in English119+41%+5%+17%

Relation to each scenario

A trend relates to a scenario when it changes how likely the scenario is, how hard it lands, or is itself sharply changed by it. Each score is the median of three scores given separately by the members of the model panel.

RelationScenarioFamily
5 · Very highCheap firm clean power becomes available at scale S15 ↗Energy, climate and resources
3 · ModerateA great-power agreement lowers economic security barriers S13 ↗Geopolitical and security
2 · LowCritical trade divides into rival blocs S01Economic and trade
2 · LowA cross-regional market access compact redirects investment S12 ↗Economic and trade
0 · Not relatedA global funding seizure reaches sovereign balance sheets S02Economic and trade
0 · Not relatedA regional war closes a globally important sea route S03Geopolitical and security
0 · Not relatedHybrid coercion ends in an infrastructure blackout S04Geopolitical and security
0 · Not relatedA disputed transfer of power breaks effective government S05Geopolitical and security
0 · Not relatedTwo breadbasket failures trigger a food availability crisis S06Energy, climate and resources
0 · Not relatedA major disaster disables the national economic core S07Energy, climate and resources
0 · Not relatedAn AI deployment step causes abrupt labour displacement S08Technology and infrastructure
0 · Not relatedA cryptographic breakthrough invalidates digital trust S09Technology and infrastructure
0 · Not relatedA novel respiratory pathogen exceeds health surge capacity S10Health
0 · Not relatedA creditor agreement releases fiscal capacity S11 ↗Economic and trade
0 · Not relatedA verified Middle East settlement restores access S14 ↗Geopolitical and security
0 · Not relatedA validated farming package raises water-efficient output S16 ↗Energy, climate and resources
0 · Not relatedAI-directed research produces a reproducible discovery step S17 ↗Technology and infrastructure
0 · Not relatedA public service platform reaches inclusive operation S18 ↗Technology and infrastructure
0 · Not relatedAffordable preventive treatments reduce chronic illness S19 ↗Health
0 · Not relatedA live outbreak proves rapid distributed pandemic defence S20 ↗Health

Similarity = 0.3 × shared tags (Jaccard) + 0.3 × likeness of scenario profiles (cosine) + 0.3 × likeness of names and descriptions (TF-IDF cosine) + 0.1 if in the same capability domain, cut into seven levels at 0.12, 0.22, 0.33, 0.45, 0.58, 0.72. Shown at Moderate and above.

SimilarityTrendThemeRank
5 · Very highBatteries & energy storageTrade, industry & supply chains42
4 · HighManufacturing overcapacityTrade, industry & supply chains51
4 · HighAdvanced nuclear fissionTrade, industry & supply chains210
4 · HighHydrogen & low-carbon fuelsTrade, industry & supply chains212
4 · HighCarbon capture, utilisation & storageTrade, industry & supply chains218
3 · ModerateIndustrial policy competitionTrade, industry & supply chains26
3 · ModerateReshoring & localised manufacturingTrade, industry & supply chains59
3 · ModerateElectrification of heat & industryEnergy, networks & climate resilience70
3 · ModerateRenewable generation expansionEnergy, networks & climate resilience128
3 · ModerateCritical minerals supply constraintsTrade, industry & supply chains155
3 · ModerateFusion energyTrade, industry & supply chains226
3 · ModerateEnhanced geothermalTrade, industry & supply chains232
3 · ModerateCircular materials & recyclingTrade, industry & supply chains237