What Brad DeLong thinks about solar
Economics professor at the University of California, Berkeley and a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the US Treasury. Author of Slouching Towards Utopia and writer of the Grasping Reality newsletter.
Everything they publish, on ppll ↗
Brad DeLong did not write this page.
We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.
3 dated positions, 2026, in their own words. Our reading of what Brad DeLong has said — not written or endorsed by them.
The line under a date shows how recently it was said: empty within a month, full after three years.
-
Our readingSolar power's global rise is driven by supply-side factors, particularly Chinese export deflation
Their wordsGlobally, solar's rise is a supply-side story: Chinese overcapacity, panels at $0.12/W, households and businesses defecting from the grid.
↗Rooftop Solar Rules Elsewhere!: CHART OF THE DAYbraddelong.substack.com
-
Our readingThe US rooftop solar market is stalled due to policy shifts, not declining hardware costs
Their wordsin the U.S., policy and plumbing now matter more than the price of a panel
↗Rooftop Solar Rules Elsewhere!: CHART OF THE DAYbraddelong.substack.com
-
Their wordsCheaper panels enabled a vast rollout in China itself and helped solar generation evolve from a subsidised technology deployed mostly in markets looking to decarbonise to a vital source of electricity in areas where power is scarce, expensive or unreliable.
↗Rooftop Solar Rules Elsewhere!: CHART OF THE DAYbraddelong.substack.com
The line under a date fills as the words age, a quarter at a time: past a month, six months, a year, and three years. Empty means said within the last month; full, more than three years ago. It says when, not whether it still holds — a change of mind is marked on the claim itself.
Dashed means we only know the words existed by that date; they may be older.