01/05/2026
The Atacama Desert receives the highest solar radiation on Earth. Up at 2,400 metres, the air is incredibly thin and humidity drops to near zero. Panels here never even gather dust.
Chile just turned these extreme conditions into a global record. They recently activated Cerro Dominador II, a massive 3,500-megawatt installation high on the desert plateau. Generating power at this facility costs exactly 1.9 US cents per kilowatt-hour. That is the absolute cheapest clean electricity price ever recorded anywhere on the planet.
The site doesn't stop when the sun goes down. It pairs traditional solar technology with molten salt thermal storage to keep the grid fed 24 hours a day. It produces energy so cheaply and abundantly that Chile is now exporting its massive surplus across borders to Argentina, Peru, and Bolivia. At this price point, natural gas cannot compete.