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New Energy World
New Energy World embraces the whole energy industry as it connects and converges to address the decarbonisation challenge. It covers progress being made across the industry, from the dynamics under way to reduce emissions in oil and gas, through improvements to the efficiency of energy conversion and use, to cutting-edge initiatives in renewable and low carbon technologies.
Solar rooftops skyrocket by 50% globally
21/6/2023
News
Solar is providing power to more people in more parts of the world than ever before, a new report from SolarPower Europe reveals.
According to the report, the world’s rooftop solar capacity increased by 49%, from 79 GW in 2021 to 118 GW, last year. That means the equivalent of 36 million more homes were powered by solar by the end of 2022. SolarPower Europe expects the rooftop boom to continue in 2023, with another 159 GW set to be installed.
In 2022, the number of major solar countries – installing at least 1 GW annually – grew from 17 to 26. By 2025, the report says it predicts that more than 50 countries will be installing more than 1 GW of solar per year.
Aristotelis Chantavas, President, SolarPower Europe, comments: ‘The world has realised that fossil fuel crises are the crises that never really go away. More than ever before, people in every part of the world are turning to solar.’
The report notes the world has been breaking its own solar installation record annually for a decade, installing 239 GW of new solar in 2022, up 45% from 2021. With over 1.2 TW of solar now installed worldwide, solar will generate 1,612 TWh of electricity globally over the course of 2023 – equivalent to 57% of the European Union’s total electricity demand.
According to the report, the forecast is also bright – between 341 GW and 402 GW of solar will be installed worldwide in 2023. From a total TW solar fleet today, the world could be installing 1 TW of solar annually by the end of the decade – hitting up to 800 GW/y in 2027.
Despite the positive outlook, challenges remain. Limited grid capacity and a lack of flexibility or storage in national electricity systems are posing critical risks to the global solar transition. According to the report, out of the 26 significant solar countries, 20 report grid bottlenecks as a key barrier to solar development.
