Advances in science are making green energy cheaper, which could make it more efficient and mainstream.

Here’s some moderately good news in the era of climate change. Wind, solar and other “clean” energy sources are now as cheap or cheaper than dirty fossil fuels at the industrial level, even without taxpayer assistance. And the gap is getting wider.

Costs of cadmium telluride, a key component in solar paneling, could plunge, thanks to a new breakthrough just unveiled at Washington State University’s Center for Materials Research.

“We can have a 45% cost reduction in producing the raw material,” says Santosh Swain, a researcher at the center who co-authored the study in Journal of Crystal Growth with Kelvin Lynn, late professor of physics, and others.

That could get solar power costs below the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2030 cost targets for renewable energy way ahead of schedule, Swain says.

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