Solar deployment likely to top 1-terawatt mark next year, 2TW by 2026

Global solar installations could break the 1-terawatt mark in 2022, industry group SolarPower Europe said in its “Global Market Outlook” on July 21, despite rising raw-material costs that could create headwinds for the renewable energy industry.

Capacity stood at 773.2 GW at the end of 2020 with the addition of 138.2 GW — a new record-high figure for annual installations, and 18% higher than the capacity added in 2019.

SolarPower Europe expects global solar capacity to pass 900 GW in 2021, 1.1 TW in 2022, 1.3 TW in 2023, 1.6 TW in 2024 and 1.8 TW in 2025. This would translate into new capacity additions of 163 GW in 2021, 203 GW in 2022, 225 GW in 2023, 239 GW in 2024 and 266 GW in 2025.

Under optimal conditions, the world could operate a solar fleet as large as 2.1 TW by the end of 2025, SolarPower Europe said.

China was the top solar market in 2020, adding 48.2 GW of new installations, followed by the U.S. with 19.2 GW, Vietnam with 11.6 GW, Japan with 8.2 GW and Australia with 5.1 GW.

23 July 2021

IEEFA