• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

'Dr. Doom' Nouriel Roubini says we're headed for universal basic income or 'some form of socialism' as AI revolutionizes work—He calls that optimistic

2

Power companies are using eminent domain to seize land for data centers as 70% of Americans say not in my backyard

3

Red Lobster’s 37-year-old CEO waited tables before joining the C-suite—he says it was a crash course in managing ‘difficult people and situations’

1

'Dr. Doom' Nouriel Roubini says we're headed for universal basic income or 'some form of socialism' as AI revolutionizes work—He calls that optimistic

2

Power companies are using eminent domain to seize land for data centers as 70% of Americans say not in my backyard

3

Red Lobster’s 37-year-old CEO waited tables before joining the C-suite—he says it was a crash course in managing ‘difficult people and situations’
TechSolar

A Jaw-Dropping World Record Solar Price Was Just Bid in Abu Dhabi

By
Katie Fehrenbacher
Katie Fehrenbacher
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Katie Fehrenbacher
Katie Fehrenbacher
Down Arrow Button Icon
September 19, 2016, 12:37 PM ET
CHINA-EU-TRADE-SOLAR-ENERGY
Large solar panels are seen in a solar power plant in Hami, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on May 8, 2013. The EU executive on May 8 proposed heavy anti-dumping tariffs of around 47 percent on imports of Chinese solar panels, a European Union source said. CHINA OUT AFP PHOTO (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images)STR/AFP/Getty Images
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

A shockingly low price for energy from solar panels was recently bid during an auction for a solar farm near the city of Abu Dhabi, according to a report in solar trade publication PV Magazine.

A consortium of the Chinese solar panel maker and project builder JinkoSolar (JKS) and the Japanese developer Marubeni put in a bid to build a large solar panel farm near the sun-rich city for a jaw-dropping 2.42 cents per kilowatt hour.

That’s by far the lowest solar panel farm bid out there. A few ultra low-cost large solar panel farms have recently achieved around 4 cents per kilowatt hour, and earlier this year the previous record bid for a solar panel farm in Chile was 2.91 cents per kilowatt hour.

For more on why solar energy is more affordable than ever, watch:

In comparison, in the U.S. average costs for energy from all types of new sources, like gas and coal, can cost between 5 and 6 cents per kilowatt hour. So getting to under 2.50 cents puts solar panel farms in an entirely new category and makes it competitive with fossil fuels.

Mind you, that bid is for an auction that hasn’t yet concluded. The Abu Dhabi solar farm is planned to be built at 350 megawatts of capacity in the town of Swaihan, selling power to the utility Abu Dhabi Electricity and Water Authority, but PV Magazine reports that the farm could be much larger.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

The cheapest form of solar energy is occurring in these large sweeping solar panel farms for utilities. According to the analysts at GTM Research, almost 14 gigawatts of solar panels will be installed in the U.S. by the end of 2016, and over 70% of that will come from these “utility-scale” solar farms.

Utilities, companies, and homeowners are embracing solar energy like never before. Fourteen gigawatts is enough solar energy to power 2.3 million homes, and is the equivalent of about 14 large natural gas or coal plants.

About the Author
By Katie Fehrenbacher
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

Sumeet Agrawal is VP of Product Management (Data, AI Governance & Context Engineering for Agentic Systems) at Salesforce.
CommentaryAI agents
Salesforce VP on the leaky AI pipeline: why cheaper tokens won’t fix enterprise AI
By Sumeet AgrawalJuly 20, 2026
5 hours ago
Artificial Intelligence technology and futuristic technology transformation
C-SuiteCFO Daily
How CFOs can tell if AI is actually creating value
By Sheryl EstradaJuly 20, 2026
6 hours ago
uk
PoliticsSocial Media
France wants to ban social media for kids — but Brussels says the bill breaks EU law
By Samuel Petrequin and The Associated PressJuly 20, 2026
6 hours ago
ryan
CommentaryLeadership
I’ve interviewed 700 leaders. The ones outsourcing their thinking to AI lose their best people first
By Ryan HawkJuly 20, 2026
7 hours ago
Pharmacy technician Brandy Leroy fills a TPN bag using the ExactaMix Pro Automated Compounding System
Startups & VentureTerm Sheet
The FDA’s peptide vote could create telehealth’s next multibillion-dollar market
By Lily Mae LazarusJuly 20, 2026
7 hours ago
Tarek Mansour, co-founder of Kalshi, in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 29, 2025. (Photo: Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg/Getty Images)
NewslettersFortune Tech
Thanks to $5.7 billion in Kalshi and Polymarket bets, FIFA’s World Cup final may be ‘the largest gambling event in history’
By Andrew NuscaJuly 20, 2026
8 hours ago

Most Popular

'Dr. Doom' Nouriel Roubini says we're headed for universal basic income or 'some form of socialism' as AI revolutionizes work—He calls that optimistic
AI
'Dr. Doom' Nouriel Roubini says we're headed for universal basic income or 'some form of socialism' as AI revolutionizes work—He calls that optimistic
By Jason MaJuly 18, 2026
2 days ago
Power companies are using eminent domain to seize land for data centers as 70% of Americans say not in my backyard
AI
Power companies are using eminent domain to seize land for data centers as 70% of Americans say not in my backyard
By Aaron Walayat and The ConversationJuly 19, 2026
1 day ago
Red Lobster’s 37-year-old CEO waited tables before joining the C-suite—he says it was a crash course in managing ‘difficult people and situations’
Success
Red Lobster’s 37-year-old CEO waited tables before joining the C-suite—he says it was a crash course in managing ‘difficult people and situations’
By Preston ForeJuly 19, 2026
1 day ago
Warren Buffett says his $147 billion investing career was an accident: ‘I may be one of the 10 luckiest in the world’
Future of Work
Warren Buffett says his $147 billion investing career was an accident: ‘I may be one of the 10 luckiest in the world’
By Sarah GlodekJuly 20, 2026
12 hours ago
‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion
Success
‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion
By Sydney LakeJuly 20, 2026
5 hours ago
It’s not just Taco Bell lettuce and possible glass in Pillsbury rolls: Food and drink recall events reached a 6-year year-over-year high
Retail
It’s not just Taco Bell lettuce and possible glass in Pillsbury rolls: Food and drink recall events reached a 6-year year-over-year high
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 20, 2026
9 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.