Share of electricity production from solar, 2022[1]Global photovoltaic power potential[2]
Many countries and territories have installed significant solar power capacity into their electrical grids to supplement or provide an alternative to conventional energy sources.
Solar power plants use one of two technologies:
Photovoltaic (PV) systems use solar panels, either on rooftops or in ground-mounted solar farms, converting sunlight directly into electric power.
Concentrated solar power (CSP, also known as "concentrated solar thermal") plants use solar thermal energy to make steam, that is thereafter converted into electricity by a turbine.
The worldwide growth of photovoltaics is extremely dynamic and varies strongly by country. In April 2022, the total global solar power capacity reached 1 TW.[3] In 2022, the leading country for solar power was China, with about 390 GW,[4][5] accounting for nearly two-fifths of the total global installed solar capacity. As of 2022, there are more than 40 countries around the world with a cumulative PV capacity of more than one gigawatt, including Canada, South Africa, Chile, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Austria, Argentina and the Philippines.
The top installers of 2022 included China, the United States, and India.[6][7] Japan, Brazil, the Netherlands, France, Mexico and Germany were also among the top installers of 2022. The available solar PV capacity in Australia is now sufficient to supply more than 15% of the nation's electrical energy while Honduras, Italy, Spain, Germany and Greece can produce between 9% and 14% of their respective annual domestic electricity consumption.[8][9]
After an almost two decade long hiatus, the deployment of CSP resumed in 2007.
However, the design for several new projects is being changed to cheaper photovoltaics.[10]
Most operational CSP stations are located in Spain and the United States, while large solar farms using photovoltaics are being constructed in an expanding list of geographic regions. Other countries, like Finland, Denmark, Israel, Ukraine and Algeria, can also produce any portions of their electricity consumption.
^"Share of electricity production from solar". Our World in Data. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
^"Global Solar Atlas". globalsolaratlas.info.
^"Solar - Fuels & Technologies". IEA. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
^"China: cumulative installed solar power capacity 2019". Statista. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
^"Chinese Solar Perseveres During Pandemic". CleanTechnica. 21 May 2020. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
^IEA: Global Installed PV Capacity Leaps to 303 Gigawatts, greentechmedia, Eric Wesoff, 27 April 2017
^"Solar PV – Analysis". IEA. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
^"Global Market Outlook for Solar Power 2015-2019" (PDF). www.solarpowereurope.org. Solar Power Europe (SPE), formerly known as EPIA – European Photovoltaic Industry Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 June 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
^"Snapshot of Global PV 1992-2014" (PDF). iea-pvps.org. International Energy Agency — Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme. 30 March 2015. Archived from the original on 7 April 2015.
^"CSP Has Fallen By The Wayside – But May Come Back Big By 2020". CleanTechnica. 27 February 2014.
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