The Boom of Solar Power

Is the global solar energy boom the sign of a bright future in the journey to net zero?

• Although the solar energy boom kicked off more than ten years ago, large scale solar energy generation has a long way to go to reach its full potential.
• China is the largest manufacturer of solar panel technology in the world, and home to huge solar farms that are supposed to do away with China’s reliance on burning coal in the future.
• China has aggressively invested in solar technologies, and influenced industries and policy globally, with the result that the sector is booming.
• Renewable energy will account for about 95% of the increase in global power-generation capacity between now and the end of 2026, and solar power alone will provide about half of that increase.
• Demand for renewable electricity generation in people’s homes is also picking up, with various energy crises driving and governments incentivising the installation of residential solar panels.
• Over in the US, one of the world’s biggest markets for renewables, president Joe Biden wants solar power to make up 40% of the country’s electricity generation by 2035, up from 3% in 2021.
• Although the US solar industry grew by 33% year-over-year in the last quarter of 2021, the pandemic has created supply issues that will see the sector grow 25% less in 2022 than previously forecast.
• But overall, renewable power, including solar energy, is defying problems caused by the pandemic and continues to grow while other fuels struggle.