Very cool, quick facts about the semiconductor and solar industries.
A $1 trillion semiconductor market by 2030.
The global semiconductor market revenues are expected to reach $588 billion in 2024, according to World Semiconductor Trade Statistics, with a predicted compound annual growth rate of 6.5% until 2028. The semiconductor market expected to surpass $1 trillion globally by 2030, according to a April 2022 report by McKinsey & Company.
Solar is quickly becoming the most economical utility-scale energy source and may provide a quarter of the world’s total electrical needs by 2050.
From 2009 to 2019, the cost of solar PV modules declined by about 89%. But perhaps more importantly, the United States Department of Energy has set LCOE (Levelized Cost of Energy) targets—without any state or local subsidies—of 5¢ per kWh for residential solar by 2030, and 4¢ per kWh for commercial solar. The same report also targets utility scale solar power (UPV) down to 2¢ per kWh by 2030, which would be a remarkable achievement, considering current LCOEs for natural gas sources in the US are between 5 to 7¢ per kWh.
With expected cost reductions in solar power, solar is targeted to account for 20-25% of global electricity generation by 2050, up from 4.5% of total global electricity generation in 2022. Hopefully advancements in energy storage can keep pace with solar technology, as this will allow plentiful, clean, affordable energy to be used at all times of day.
