1. How can we make solar energy better?
2 What kind of problem can chip shortages cause globally?
1. How can we make solar energy better?
The solar power industry has been focusing on reducing the cost of solar power generation for several decades. Now, attention is being paid to make solar panels more effective. Solar power producers are giving more importance to modern technology in terms of savings in equipment manufacturing and rising raw material costs. For example, they are making panels of such a design by manufacturing better components that more electricity can be generated from a solar farm of the same size.
According to Xiaojing Sun, a global researcher at Wood Mackenzie, the twenty-first century saw a significant decline in prices in the first 20 years, but the pace of price decline has slowed in recent times. The move to build more powerful solar equipment underscores how cost-cutting is necessary to switch from conventional fuels to new energy sources. Now grid-sized solar farms are cheaper than state-of-the-art coal or gas plants. Combining clean energy sources with costly storage technology will require additional savings. Large factories, automation, and more efficient production methods have reduced labor costs in the solar sector.
The average cost of solar panels has dropped by 90 percent between 2010 and 2020. In addition, the wastage of goods has also reduced. Increasing the energy output per panel makes it possible to generate the same amount of power from a smaller panel as a larger one. Till the last decade, where most of the solar panels are of 400 watts, by the year 2020, solar panels of up to 500 and 700 watts started getting available.
2 What kind of problem can chip shortages cause globally?
Globally, chip shortages have added to the troubles of leading carmakers Daimler AG and Jaguar Land Rover. These companies have warned of depleting the car's stock and said that there would be a further reduction in deliveries. In the second quarter also, production may fall by 50 percent compared to estimates on the limited supply of semiconductors.
Let us tell you that Daimler AG is a German luxury car manufacturer, while Jaguar Land Rover is a British luxury car manufacturer owned by Tata Motors. Following this warning, Tata Motors shares fell 8.4 percent on Tuesday in Mumbai. This is the biggest drop in the last three months. Shares of Mercedes-Benz maker Daimler fell up to 4 percent in Frankfurt. This is the biggest loss since October. According to a Bloomberg study on prices, Jaguar Land Rover's euro bond due to expire in January 2026 is on a steep decline since December 11.
The shortage of chips started in December last year. Because of the lockdown imposed after the pandemic, consumer demand for personal devices had increased. This shortfall persists this year as well. Consulting firm AlixPartners forecast in May that the semiconductor shortage could cut car industry sales by about $110 billion. Auto manufacturers receive electronic components Have been forced to overhaul the method. JLR says there are currently major chip shortages, and it's hard to make any predictions.
On Tuesday, Mercedes-Benz, the world's largest luxury car brand, said that chip shortage significantly curtailed deliveries during the second quarter. This shortfall was especially high in the last month. Carmakers say there will be a supply-chain crunch in the coming two quarters. China's largest automaker also did not lag in reducing vehicle production due to the chip crisis. Psych Motor Corp. cut production of about 500,000 cars in the first half, according to Bloomberg news.
Surprisingly, America's strong auto market has declined. Deutsche Bank AG analyst Emmanuel Rosner estimates sales in April slowed at an annualized pace of about 18.6 million vehicles, to 17.1 million in May and 15.7 million in June. Other automakers, including Nissan Motor Co., Hyundai Motor Co., and Volkswagen AG, have also warned that sales of cars will be lower in the summer. Chip shortage could also be a ray of hope for automakers. As JLR says - as the crisis persists, it will prefer to produce high-margin vehicles.
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