Each doubling of solar capacity has cut panel prices by about a fifth

the gist

Solar panel prices have dropped roughly 20 percent each time the world's total installed solar capacity doubles. This pattern, called a learning curve, appears because manufacturers get better at production with every unit made. Over the last decade, solar photovoltaic costs have fallen about 90 percent, onshore wind about 70 percent, and batteries more than 90 percent. Cheap clean power now often beats new fossil fuel plants on cost alone.

how it works

Each time a factory makes more panels, workers and engineers find better designs, cheaper materials and faster processes. Because cost falls with cumulative output rather than with time, doubling total production gives a predictable drop in price. That is why experience curves show up across many manufactured products.

so what

The learning curve means clean energy keeps getting cheaper as it spreads, which changes forecasts for how fast the world can switch away from coal and gas. It is one of the strongest examples of how scale drives down the cost of new technology.

the bigger pattern

The same learning-curve effect made computer chips, LED lights and lithium-ion batteries much cheaper as their production grew. Economists have used it since the 1930s to explain falling costs in aircraft manufacturing.

Hampi was once one of the world's largest cities, until its Vijayanagara capital was destroyed in 1565

the gist

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.

how it works

The city was built around a fortified core with temples, markets and water structures along the river, supplied by an extensive network of roads and waterworks. When the empire fell, the city was not rebuilt, so its stone monuments were left standing.

so what

Hampi shows how quickly a great city can vanish after a military defeat, and how a ruined capital can remain sacred. Its ruins give historians a view of medieval South Asia that few other sites can match.

fun fact

The name Hampi comes from Pampa, an old name for the Tungabhadra River.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · text CC BY-SA 4.0

Image: Wikimedia Commons

source: Wikipedia ↗

2 min

politicsshortCNA2:01

False allegations about Singapore’s hand in Indonesia’s markets and a made-up meeting

from CNA

CNA Verify has found close to 400 posts pushing falsehoods tying Singapore to Indonesia’s stock market rout and to a secret meeting that never took place. Together, they drew nearly 12 million views, and some were circulated by accounts that appeared to be working in concert, across multiple social media platforms.

Here’s how the disinformation campaign targeting Singapore was uncovered.

on YouTube: CNA ↗