Why did it take more than 60 years for solar to go mainstream—and how did it get so cheap?

In this episode, I explore the global history of solar energy with Gregory Nemet, professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and author of How Solar Energy Became Cheap.

Greg reveals how solar’s stunning price drop—from over $100 per watt for a solar modulee in the 1970s to under 10 cents today—wasn’t driven by a single breakthrough or country. Instead, it was a global relay race of innovation, policy, and persistence.

🔍 What we cover:

🎧 Tune in to hear the surprising, multi-decade journey behind one of the greatest climate success stories—and what it means for the future of clean energy.

Links:

• Gregory Nemet’s website: gregnemet.net

In this episode, I speak with David Abraham, author of The Elements of Power, about the enduring vulnerabilities in Western supply chains for rare earth elements and magnets, which are used in electric vehicles and wind turbines. Nearly a decade after his book warned of the consequences of China’s control over these resources, Abraham reflects on how little has changed — and why.

We explore how China’s state-led strategy outmaneuvered market-driven Western approaches, why Japan doubled down on China even after a supply shock, and what lessons the U.S. and Europe must learn if they hope to build resilient supply chains.

From the US policy during the Second World War to today’s EV and clean tech ambitions, this conversation unpacks the economic, geopolitical, and industrial stakes of the rare earth race.

SOURCES:

The Elements of Power: Gadgets, Guns, and the Struggle for a Sustainable Future in the Rare Metal Age

In the 1930s, fewer than 10% of U.S. farms had electricity. One solution? Small wind turbines.

My guest, Brandon Owens—author of The Wind Power Story—explores how wind power brought electricity to rural America long before the grid. We dive into the story of the Jacobs Wind Electricity Company, which delivered over 30,000 turbines to farms across the country. Known as the “Cadillac of the trade,” one even powered a station at the South Pole.

We also discuss how federal policy, like the 1937 Rural Electrification Act, helped end this early era of decentralized, off-grid power.

SOURCES: The Wind Power Story: A Century of Innovation that Reshaped the Global Energy Landscape by Brandon N. Owens.

This week we are talking about the life of George Cove, a Canadian inventor and entrepreneur. 

Born in Nova Scotia in 1863 or 1864, Cove presented his first “solar electric generator” in 1905 in the Metropole Building in Halifax, Nova Scotia. 

He then moved to the US to continue work on his solar device. In 1909 he exhibited four solar panels on a New York rooftop, which were used to charge lead-acid batteries. 

This was decades before the first conventional photovoltaic solar panel as we know it today was invented at Bell Labs. 

Cove intended to use the heat of the sun to generate electricity, a so-called thermoelectric generator. But he may have accidentally created a solar panel that generated electricity via the photovoltaic effect - similar to current panels we have today. 

In October of the same year Cove was kidnapped. Some reports say his life was threatened if he did not cease work on solar power. Afterwards his company, Sun Electric Generator Company, collapsed.  

I’m delighted to be joined by Dr. Sugandha Srivastav. She is a Lecturer in Environmental Economics and a Senior Research Associate at the University of Oxford.

In 2023 she published a fascinating paper on George Cove which argued that solar powercould have become cheaper than coal at least a decade earlier than it did, if Cove’s business had succeeded. 

She argues that in the early 1900s people were remarkably positive about solar power and its potential, yet that attitude then disappeared for decades. 

Lost potential: how the kidnapping of a solar energy pioneer impacted the cost of renewable energy and the climate crisis

How to Build a Low-tech Solar Panel?

Untangling the Mystery of the World’s First Rooftop Solar Panel

Denmark is a global leader in wind energy, with Danish company Vestas standing as one of the world’s largest producers of wind turbines. Wind power accounts for around 58% of Denmark’s electricity—the highest share among OECD countries, according to Ember.

But how did Denmark rise to this level of dominance? The roots of the country's wind power success can be traced back to history, specifically to Poul la Cour, the man who built Denmark's first wind turbine to generate electricity in 1891.

In this episode, Jytte Thorndahl, former curator at the Danish Museum of Energy, delves into the life and groundbreaking contributions of Poul la Cour to Denmark's wind energy development.

At the time la Cour was working, Denmark’s first power stations were being built, but they did not reach rural areas. Additionally, Denmark had to import fossil fuels. La Cour wanted the rural population to benefit from electricity. “The plan was to ease farm labor, make it more efficient, and provide light for reading and working during the long, dark winter evenings,” according to the Poul la Cour Museum.

La Cour’s pioneering work laid the foundation for Denmark’s modern wind industry. Unlike Charles Brush, whom we discussed in our previous episode, la Cour didn’t just innovate—he shared his knowledge.

In 1903, he founded the Danish Wind Electricity Society, which trained rural electricians in three-month courses in Askov. These courses covered not only how to install wind turbines but also subjects like accounting, physics, and geometry.

By the early 1900s, Denmark’s wind power industry was taking off. By 1908, the year la Cour passed away, Danish company Lykkegaard had built seventy-two wind turbines based on his designs, supplying power to rural Denmark. By early 1906, forty windmills were already generating electricity across the country.

SOURCES: Link to the Poul la Cour Museum

Clean energy is under attack like never before. President Donald Trump has said “the wind is bullshit.” Right-wing parties in Europe have opposed climate legislation introduced by the European Union. 

There’s never been a more important time to understand the real history of clean energy - how did we get here; who were the pioneers? And critically why it has taken so long to come of age. 

An Electric Revolution will take listeners through the story of clean energy, from its origins to the present day, through the stories of idealists and inventors who challenged the status quo and dreamt of a better way of powering the planet. 

From Charles Brush to Wang Chuanfu. 

It will answer key questions such as  - who designed and built the first wind turbines and solar panels? Why did electric cars fail over a hundred years ago? Why did clean energy lose out to fossil fuels? Why did China come to dominate the industry and the West lose out? 

I’m Henry Sanderson, the author of the book Volt Rush, the Winners and Losers in the Race to Go Green, and a former journalist for The Financial Times and Bloomberg. 

Each episode I will introduce one person from the history of clean energy. What made him or her tick? Why are they important to this story, and how did they inspire others? And critically, what can we learn about today’s challenges from history? 

Please click subscribe to get all future episodes and leave a rating or review - that really helps. 

Thank you for listening.

In 1888, a tall wind turbine in the backyard of a grand mansion on Cleveland's Euclid Avenue caught the attention of many. To most passers-by, it seemed like an unusual curiosity—perhaps the toy of a wealthy man.

But this was no ordinary decoration. It was the pioneering work of Charles Brush, one of the first people to harness wind power for generating electricity.

Brush's wind turbine had 144 wooden blades which were mounted on a sixty-foot tall tower. He stored the electricity in twelve batteries in his basement.

Yet Brush, a businessman, never patented the wind turbine, nor did he seek to start a company to manufacture the device.

In this episode, we dive into Brush's invention and its significance. My guest today is Paul Gipe, a wind power advocate for over four decades.

Paul is the author of several influential books on the wind industry, including Wind Energy for the Rest of Us and Wind Energy Comes of Age. He also runs an excellent website full of information on the wind industry.

Join us as we explore the history of wind power and its evolution with one of the leading experts in the field.

BOOKS MENTIONED:

Wind Energy in America, by Robert Righter.