Modeling barriers to cost change in solar and nuclear energy technologies

The cost of photovoltaic systems has declined more rapidly than other electricity production technologies, while nuclear plant costs have risen. Changing costs have contributed to global energy transitions in the past, and our capacity to decarbonize the electricity sector will depend on the cost of low-carbon electricity production technologies like photovoltaic and nuclear energy. Understanding the mechanisms behind historical cost evolution and potential future improvement can inform the design of energy technologies and the policies that advance them. This thesis investigates historical barriers and future opportunities for cost reduction in solar and nuclear power. By developing innovative mathematical and conceptual models, we address the following questions: (1) How can "plug-and-play" design improve costs in photovoltaic systems? (2) What were the sources of cost escalation and overruns in nuclear power plant construction? We address these questions in chapters 2 and 3.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute for Data, Systems, and Society

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2019

Author dc:creator

• Eash-Gates, Philip(Philip Killman)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Jessika E. Trancik.

• Institute for Data, Systems, and Society.
• Technology and Policy Program.

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/122160

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/122160