Welcome to Zero. I'm Akshatrati. This week, booms, bus and bargains.

Solar is the cheapest source of energy.

You know, within the last two decades, it has gone from being a cool technology that rich countries should fund to being mainstream.

You can see solar panels everywhere.

It now contributes 4% of the world's electricity. Which sounds tiny, but the extraordinary

pace at which it has grown means that analysts think it could contribute as much as 50% within

decades. This is partly thanks to how cheap the panels have become. The technology was created

in the US, but brought to massive scale in factories in Japan,

Germany, and then finally China, which today is responsible for more than 80% of global supply.

And that dependence is bringing disruption to the industry.

Countries from India to the US want to make sure that their supply chains aren't too dependent on China.

That's forcing governments to come up with policies that incentivize manufacturing

solar domestically.

Solar manufacturing is a horrible business.

I don't know why governments want to have it in their countries,

when they could just buy really cheap modules on the global markets.

That is Jenny Chase, solar power analysts for Bloomberg NEF, who I think is basically the

world's best expert on the business of solar.

She's covered the industry for two decades and seen lots and lots of disruption.

Despite the massive growth, the technology cycle of solar is so rapid that few investors are able to recoup their investments.

And yet, the demand for solar keeps rising, which keeps motivating new people to try.

The latest attempt is thanks to the US Climate Bill, which is going to heavily subsidize the production of solar panels domestically.

...