> From 2010 to 2021, the levelized cost of installing utility-scale solar fell 88% .... But in the last couple of years, supply-chain issues have halted these price declines globally
How many "couple of years" have there been between 2021 and now?
I suppose if we're charitable, maybe "From 2010 to 2021" is programmer style [2010, 2021), i.e., ending at 1 Jan 2021. Then all of 2021 & 2022 form "a couple of years". (The book is more or less closed on 2022. Given that my "2 day shipping" from cyber Monday took 8 days, I'm not holding my breath on "the supply chain" fixing itself prior to people giving it up for the holiday retreat.)
The two time periods you have quoted are not necessarily non-overlapping time periods. Nothing from your quote implies that the couple of years begins at 2021.
Falling between two dates does not imply that it fell uniformly or that it fell for every year between those two dates.
I think "couple" is pretty typically accepted as being "two", at least in most US settings; I can't speak for international variations. In my home area of central Pennsylvania "couple" is a more general, meaning anywhere between 2 and 4, but I think that usage is rather the exception than the rule.
Nonetheless, we can probably give them a pass for saying "couple" instead of "nearly three" since January 2020.
Also from central PA: my dad and I had this discussion years ago and he argued the syllables made the count: (1)A (2)Few and (1)A (2)Coup (3)le. I was in the other camp that a couple is two (husband and wife) and a few was much more loose on definition (2-5).
How many "couple of years" have there been between 2021 and now?