Solar Power Europe has recently published the Global Market Outlook, the report that studies solar energy scenarios at a global level, in which the trend of the solar market in 2020 is analyzed and in which the forecasts on the trend of the sector in the next years until 2025 are exposed.
Data from the report shows that in 2020, 138.2 GW of solar capacity were installed worldwide, an increase of 18% compared to 2019, which thus allows to reach a global solar capacity of 773.2 GW; a significant growth, that according to future market projections could lead solar to be placed within the Terawatt scale by 2022.
According to the scenario predicted by the Global Market Outlook in fact, in 2025 the total installed capacity will reach 1,870 GW and the relative annual share of installations will record a double value compared to the current one, reaching 266 GW; extraordinary values, as noted by Walburga Hemetsberger, CEO of Solarpower Europe, if you consider that the share that is expected to be installed in 2025 only six years ago, in 2015, was the total installed capacity in the world.
In 2020 the solar market was driven by China, which installed 48.2 GW, the United States (with 19.2 GW), Vietnam (with 11.6 GW), Japan (with 8.2 GW) and Australia (with 5.1 GW). Europe has experienced a reduced increase, from 22.9 GW of new installed capacity in 2019 to 23.7 GW in 2020, a fact that is certainly affected by the effects that the pandemic from Covid-19 had on the old continent. The forecasts remain positive, and in fact for next year is expected to increase by 25% in the solar sector, which will add 203 GW to the current solar capacity.
But, despite the report shows that 83% of the new installed capacity in 2020 comes from renewable technologies, it emerges that 70% of the energy used globally still comes from polluting and unsustainable energy sources, and that is why more action is needed from international political decision-makers to accelerate the development and use of green sources, such as solar.
"The past year has been a record year for the global solar sector and, despite the difficulties resulting from COVID-19, solar remains on a strong and steady path. The growth of solar confirmed its dominance among all new energy generation technologies, reaching a global share of 39%, which means that more than one in three power plants installed in 2020 comes from solar. The message of this Global Market Outlook is very clear: a future with solar energy is on track. To stay on this path we must ensure the right authorisation processes for regular development and the right regulatory frameworks for electrification and integration of renewable energy" said Aristotelis Chantavas, SolarPower Europe President.
