Global Solar PV Capacity Expected to Exceed 1,500 GW by 2030

The global solar PV capacity is estimated to increase significantly from 593.9 GW in 2019 to 1,582.9 GW in 2030, a new report has revealed.

Global solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity is estimated to increase significantly from 593.9 gigawatts (GW) in 2019 to 1,582.9 GW in 2030 following significant capacity additions by China, India, Germany, the US and Japan, a new report has revealed.

According to GlobalData latest report, ‘Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Market, Update 2019 – Global Market Size, Market Share, Average Price, Regulations, and Key Country Analysis to 2030’, the annual capacity additions were significant in China and the US during 2006–2018, which was mainly due to support programs such as solar PV targets in China and the Sunshot initiative in the US.

Anchal Agarwal, power analyst at GlobalData, said that the Asia-Pacific (APAC), is the largest regional market in terms of cumulative capacity with a share of 58.1 percent of global solar PV capacity in 2018. In terms of net annual additions, APAC alone installed 64.5 GW of solar PV, which represents 70.8 percent of net installations in the same year. APAC is expected to remain the largest market during the forecast period 2019 to 2030 due to an increase in capacity installations, led by countries such as China, India and Japan.

“China is the largest market for solar PV in the world. Solar PV capacity in China increased significantly from 864 MW in 2010 to 174.8 GW in 2018. The cumulative capacity saw a significant increase during 2015–2018,” said Agarwal.

The solar PV market in China had a remarkable year in 2017, recording 53.1 GW – the highest annual solar PV addition between 2010 and 2018.

The report further adds that in September 2018, China increased its target for renewables to account for at least 35 percent of electricity consumption by 2030. The new plan boosts 2020 targets for non-hydro renewables for the regions of Inner Mongolia, Yunnan and Xinjiang, with Inner Mongolia’s goal for this year increasing from 13 percent to 18 percent. The country’s target of 105 GW of cumulative installed PV power, which was originally planned to be achieved by 2020, has already been surpassed by more than 50 percent in 2018.” And that the country is now targeting between 210 GW and 270 GW of solar PV capacity by 2020.

“During 2019 to 2030, the country is set to have the largest capacity additions each year with more than 25 GW planned to be added annually. About a third of the global capacity addition during this period is set to be from installations in China,” concludes Agarwal.