Last April, the installed capacity of the solar industry reached 1 TW worldwide and is expected to more than double by 2025

The global solar industry is in luck. And with good reason, since last April the installed capacity of this type of renewable energy reached the remarkable figure of 1,000 GW (or 1 TW, depending on your preference), thanks to the contribution of an excellent 2021 year in which 168 GW of capacity was added to the global electricity grid. This is confirmed by the report Global Market Outlook for Solar Power from SolarPower Europe, which also marks that this is the ninth consecutive year in which the photovoltaic industry has broken its annual installation record. A trend that is expected to repeat during 2022, in which forecasts point to a solar energy installation that will exceed, for the first time, 200 GW.

Annual installation of solar generation capacity

Such is the boom of the solar industry that in just 10 years the capacity has exceeded 100 GW installed to the current 1,000 GW, multiplying its presence in the energy production fabric by 10. To this end, the last three years (2018-2021 period) have been crucial despite the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, doubling capacity from 500 GW to 1 TW. Thus, solar energy stands as the first growing renewable source, accounting for 168 GW of the 302 GW of renewable energy installed in 2021 and surpassing its closest competitor, wind energy, by 70 GW, and adding up to more than all non-solar renewable energies combined: hydroelectric with 25 GW, biomass with 10 GW, and others with 6 GW. A trend that we were able to verify with the excellent year for the Spanish solar industry.

Thus, the participation of solar electric generation in the global electricity mix has tripled in just six years, going from 1.1% in 2015 to the current 3.7% reached in 2021; although still far behind the rest of renewable energies, which contributed 24.6% of the world’s electricity generation.

Percentage of participation of solar energy in world electricity generation

Among the many factors that can explain With this dramatic growth in solar energy, we find a decline in production costs, which has become the cheapest source of electricity generation, not only at a renewable level but also globally, with its production costs falling by 90%. Thus, generating one MW/h of solar energy costs US$36, compared to US$38 for wind energy, US$60 for nuclear energy, US$108 for coal or US$167 for combined cycle.

Generation costs, per megawatt hour, of the solar industry and its competitors competitors

Asia drives a growing solar industry

According to the aforementioned document, the world will see a growing demand for solar energy in the next four years, where the 200GW expected for 2022 will be joined by another 255.8 GW in 2023 to reach an annual installation of 347 GW in 2026. An annual growth rate 18% higher than what was predicted in the previous Global Market Outlook for Solar Power.

The role of the Asian market is being fundamental for the solar industry to accumulate, year after year, these records. Thus, last year the Asia-Pacific region monopolized 56% of solar installations, although it lost 6 percentage points of market share to the American and European continents, whose representation is estimated at 22% and 19% respectively.

In terms of countries, the two major economic engines of the world occupy the leading positions in terms of solar installations. Thus, China emerges as the undisputed leader in this sector, experiencing annual growth of 14% and a record 54.9 GW of installed solar capacity; double that of its closest competitor: the United States. For its part, the US market grew by a remarkable 42%, reaching 27.3 GW. Thus, the top 3 is closed by India, which increased its solar electricity generation capacity by 14.2 GW.

Top 10 markets in annual solar installation

The top 10 countries with the most active solar industry in 2021 are completed by Japan (6.4 GW), Australia (6 GW), Germany (6 GW), Brazil (5.5 GW), Spain (4.8 GW), South Korea (4.4 GW) and Poland (3.8 GW).