A new report from SolarPower Europe has found that the number of people employed within the solar industry in Europe grew by 39% to 648,000 by the end of 2022, up from 466,000 workers in 2021. While previous estimates expected one million jobs by 2030, it now looks likely that sustained solar growth will reach this target by 2025, suggests the report.

The sector is forecast to reach 800,000 workers in 2023, and 1.2 million by 2027, according to the most-likely scenario for European Union (EU) solar market growth. As in previous years, the installation segment continues to dominate, employing 84% of workers. Operating and maintaining plants represents 8% of jobs, with high-value strategic work in manufacturing supplying over 7%.

Walburga Hemetsberger, Chief Executive Officer, SolarPower Europe, comments: ‘Looking at the solar skills gap, we’re beginning to tackle quantity, and now we need to re-double our efforts on quality.’

Meanwhile, overall, worldwide employment in all renewable energies reached 13.7 million in 2022, an increase of one million since 2021 and up from a total of 7.3 million in 2012, according to a new report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO). This report found solar photovoltaics (PV) to be the largest employer in 2022, reaching 4.9 million jobs, more than a third of the total workforce in the renewable energy sector.

Solar and wind to drive two thirds of India’s power
In other news, two thirds of India’s power generation growth in the next 10 years is set to come from solar and wind, according to new analysis by Ember.

If India achieves its solar targets set out in the 14th National Electricity Plan (NEP14), its share is expected to increase fivefold, from 5% to 25% in the FY2022–2032 period, marking a period of ‘accelerating growth’.

The Indian government plans to tender 50 GW of solar and wind capacity per year in the next five financial years. However, to achieve the NEP14 targets, the country will need to increase its current annual solar capacity by about 36% each year up to 2026–2027, according to Ember. This means that India would need to commission at least 17.5 GW in FY2024, with a further ramp up to 41 GW by the 2027 target year.

UK rooftop record 
Meanwhile, more solar power systems have been installed on UK roofs this year than in the whole of 2022, according to renewable energy standards body MCS.

A total of 138,336 solar PV installations have been registered since December, up from 137,926 registered during 2022. This was a record for the post-subsidy industry. The figures refer to installations with a capacity of 50 kW and below, deployed on homes, schools and small businesses.

Current trends indicate that the UK could surpass the all-time record of 203,120 installations, set during the height of the feed-in tariffs regime in 2011.

New 50 MW plant in Kazakhstan 
Elsewhere, Plenitude (Eni) has inaugurated its first solar PV plant in the Republic of Kazakhstan, close to Shaulder village in the Turkistan region. The facility has a 50 MW installed capacity, spans 100 hectares, will produce up to 90 GWh/y of electricity and will feature over 93,000 solar panels and an electrical substation. These components will be integrated into the local grid through a new overhead powerline.

Floating solar plant to triple in size 

Masdar and PLN Nusantara Power (PLN NP) have signed an agreement to develop Phase II of the Cirata floating PV (FPV) power plant in Indonesia by up to 500 MW.

The initial 145 MW phase of the project, located in the Cirata reservoir in West Java, Indonesia, is expected to come online later this year. A recent regulatory development from the Ministry of Public Works and Housing in Indonesia now allows up to 20% of reservoir water coverage for renewable energy uses.

New 187 MW US solar project
BP has begun construction of its 187 MW Peacock Solar project, in San Patricio County, Texas. Peacock will sell all of the electricity it generates under a long-term power purchase agreement to Gulf Coast Growth Ventures (GCGV), a joint venture between ExxonMobil and SABIC, which produces materials used to manufacture clothes, food containers, packaging, agricultural film and construction materials.

Once complete, the installation will generate enough renewable energy annually to power the equivalent of 34,000 homes.