A new technology has been developed that significantly reduces the production costs of solar panels. How would this event affect the supply curve for solar panels, and why does it belong in that category?

When production costs fall, manufacturers can produce solar panels more cheaply, so they are willing to supply more at every price level; this pushes the supply curve to the right. The shift happens because the relationship between cost and quantity supplied changes, not because of a price change. For example, if the cost per panel drops from $200 to $150, a factory can now sell 1,000 panels at $400 instead of only 600, showing an increased quantity supplied at each price. This event is a supply‑curve shift because it reflects a change in production technology, not a movement along the curve caused by a price change.