Utility-scale solar power really has become dramatically cheaper: IRENA says the global weighted-average cost of electricity from new solar PV projects fell 90% between 2010 and 2024. But the latest data show a pause, not another plunge: the average was USD 44 per megawatt-hour in both 2024 and 2025. These figures describe the cost of generation at large power plants—not rooftop solar quotes or the electricity price on a household bill.
How much cheaper has utility-scale solar become?
The clearest measure is the levelised cost of electricity, or LCOE: an estimate of the lifetime cost of generating electricity from a project, expressed per unit of power produced. IRENA’s global weighted-average LCOE for newly commissioned utility-scale solar PV fell from USD 0.417 per kilowatt-hour in 2010 to USD 0.043 in 2024—a 90% reduction. The 2024 estimate is equivalent to USD 43 per megawatt-hour.
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The fall was accompanied by a decline in project construction costs. IRENA reports a global weighted-average total installed cost of USD 691 per kilowatt for utility-scale solar PV projects commissioned in 2024, 87% below 2010 and 11% below 2023. Those are global averages, not a quote for a project in any one country. IRENA’s 2024 cost report sets out the figures and methodology.
Why did solar get so cheap?
Panels became far less expensive
Solar’s growth helped create scale in manufacturing and deployment, while technological innovation and competition across supply chains pushed costs down. IRENA reports that global crystalline-silicon module costs fell 97% from January 2010 to December 2024. Cheaper modules are a major part of the story, but a panel price is not the cost of a complete power plant.
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The rest of a solar project still matters
Developers also need inverters, land and site preparation, structures, electrical equipment, installation, grid connection and financing. In 2024, balance-of-system costs—IRENA’s category excluding modules and inverters—accounted for around 65% of utility-scale PV total installed costs. A project’s location, construction conditions and financing can therefore matter substantially even when panel prices are low.
Projects produce more over time, too
IRENA’s global average capacity factor for utility-scale solar PV rose from 15% in 2010 to 17.4% in 2024. Capacity factor is the share of a plant’s theoretical maximum output it generates over time. More output from installed capacity can improve a project’s economics, although sunlight, weather, equipment and operating conditions vary by site.
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Is solar the cheapest way to make electricity?
For the global weighted-average cost of newly commissioned utility-scale generation, solar is among the least expensive options, but it is not always the cheapest. IRENA’s 2025 data put onshore wind below solar PV on average. These are technology-level global averages, not a ranking that applies to every location or every hour.
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| Technology | Global weighted-average LCOE, 2025 |
|---|---|
| Onshore wind | USD 33/MWh |
| Solar PV | USD 44/MWh |
| Offshore wind | USD 78/MWh |
IRENA’s July 2026 report says utility-scale solar PV’s global weighted-average LCOE was unchanged at USD 44/MWh in 2025, the same level as 2024. The report describes renewable generation costs as stabilising after more than a decade of steep declines. The historical 90% drop is therefore not a basis for assuming equally large annual reductions ahead. See IRENA’s 2025 cost report for the latest comparison.
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What LCOE does—and does not—tell you
LCOE is useful for comparing the estimated lifetime generation costs of projects, but it is not a household electricity tariff or a guaranteed price for power at any moment. A solar plant produces according to sunlight, so its output varies through the day and with weather. Storage and other grid infrastructure can help address reliability and flexibility needs, but they add costs that should be included when relevant to a comparison. IRENA notes that utility-scale PV is increasingly paired with batteries.
Keep comparisons like for like: project scale, location, commissioning year, financing assumptions and whether storage or other enabling infrastructure is included. A low global average does not by itself establish what a particular project will cost or what consumers in its area will pay.
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What the cost trend means for solar’s growth
Lower generation costs help explain solar’s expansion, alongside policy, demand and local power-system conditions. The International Energy Agency’s Renewables 2025 analysis forecasts 4,600 GW of renewable capacity additions worldwide between 2025 and 2030—equal to the combined installed power capacity of China, the European Union and Japan—and identifies low module costs among the drivers of solar PV adoption. That is a forecast, not capacity already built. Read the IEA renewable electricity analysis for its assumptions and outlook.
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IRENA Director-General Francesco La Camera said of newly commissioned utility-scale renewable projects collectively: “In 2024, 91% of all newly commissioned utility-scale renewable projects delivered electricity at a lower cost than the cheapest new fossil fuel-fired alternative.” That finding covers renewables as a group; it should not be read as a solar-only statistic. IRENA’s July 2025 announcement provides the context.
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Does this mean rooftop solar is cheap for every homeowner?
No conclusion about a particular home’s payback or system price follows from utility-scale LCOE. Rooftop economics depend on local installation prices, incentives, household electricity rates, expected system output and how the utility compensates exported power. Without those local inputs, a global power-plant average cannot answer whether a rooftop system is worthwhile for an individual household.
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