Global Solar Industry to Scale the 100 GW Mark in 2019

Economics make Solar the Obvious Choice

The global solar industry continues to grow as economics have made solar energy the cheapest source of energy in large areas of the world. Even without subsidies and government support, solar energy capacity is being set up as costs continue to go down each year making its economic case more and more favorable as compared to fossil fuels like coal, oil, etc.

As per Wood Mackenzie, global solar annual additions in 2019 will go up to 114 GW which is a 17% jump from the 97 GW installed in 2018. While some other market research companies have said that 2018 installations were more than 100 GW, Wood Mackenzie has indicated 97 GW in 2018. The biggest reason for the jump is the sharply lower costs of solar energy. A recent tender in Spain saw prices drop to just 1.7 cents/ kWh which was the lowest seen in a large tender globally. These prices are fast becoming the benchmark around the world where utilities are seeing value in procuring solar power to lower their overall purchase costs. Some utilities are also thinking of shuttering their old gas and coal power plants by replacing them with solar power. This means that in addition to new demand, substation demand will also become a major driver of solar energy growth in the coming year.

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Solar energy is also becoming more dispersed globally with 19 countries expected to deploy more than 1 GW in 2019 up from 7 in 2018. Even though the big daddy China is expected to see roughly flat demand at around 40 GW, other areas such as Europe, the Middle East, and South America are expected to power growth. India and USA will also continue to be the 2^nd and 3^rd largest demand creators for solar energy even though topsy turvy policies have made exact demand hard to predict in these countries. Read about the 12 Biggest and Best Solar Panel Companies In The World

Solar energy has become the most preferable source of power givens its low cost, green credentials as well as the fast set up as compared to other power sources. The declining cost, as well as the rapidly improving scale and price of energy storage, means that solar will become even more dominant in the coming years. It has scaled up really fast in the last decade and it could replace almost all the other sources in the next decade if countries become more proactive against climate change which is becoming more dangerously pervasive each year.