03/09/2020
At 118 GW, Solar PV emerges as the most popular power technology
The research firm said in a report PV dominated as the main new power-generating technology source added to grids in dozens of countries ranging from Australia, to India, Italy, Namibia, Uruguay and the U.S. in 2019.
ETEnergyWorld September 01, 2020, 17:53 IST
At 118 GW, Solar PV emerges as the most popular power technology
New Delhi: With a record 118 gigawatts constructed, Solar Photovoltaic (PV) topped all other technologies in new-build terms and was the most popular technology deployed in a third of nations in 2019, according to BloombergNEF (BNEF).
The research firm said in a report PV dominated as the main new power-generating technology source added to grids in dozens of countries ranging from Australia, to India, Italy, Namibia, Uruguay and the U.S. in 2019.
In all, 81 countries built at least 1 Megawatt of solar in 2019 and solar power accounted for nearly half of all new power generation capacity constructed worldwide.
The findings are highlighted in BNEF’s new Power Transition Trends 2020 report, an online tool, which tracks detailed capacity and generation data over the past decade.
The report highlights the enormous strides solar has made in a decade, rising from just 43.7GW of total capacity installed in 2010 to 651GW as of year-end 2019.
Solar in 2019 also moved past wind (644GW) to become the fourth largest source of power on a capacity basis, behind coal (2,089GW), gas (1,812GW), and hydro (1,160GW).
There is now more wind and solar capacity online worldwide than total capacity from all technologies, clean or dirty, in the U.S.
Wind and solar accounted for over two-thirds of the 265GW of new capacity installed worldwide in 2019, up from less than a quarter of new build in 2010.
For the first time, the two technologies also accounted for the majority of new generation recorded in 2019. Including hydro power, renewables made up three-fourths of 2019 commissioned capacity.
