Shocking-but-True✓✓ 3 independent sources
Solar module prices fell 99.8% in 50 years
-99.8% since 1975 ($128.27/W → ~$0.26/W)
Our World in Data's price series shows solar PV module costs plunging from $128.27 per watt in 1975 to roughly $0.26 per watt by 2024. The learning curve is brutal: in just one decade (the 2010s) solar electricity got about 89% cheaper, outpacing wind, gas and coal - which is why solar now undercuts fossil plants in most of the world.
In 1975 a watt of solar panel cost $128.27. Today it costs about 26 cents - a 99.8% price collapse over five decades, making solar the cheapest new electricity in history.