Solar PV Develops as the Most Prevalent Power Technology with 118 GW in 2019: BNEF

With a record 118 GW constructed, Solar Photovoltaic (PV) surpassed all other technologies in new-build terms and was the most popular technology installed in a third of nations in 2019, according to a new report by BloombergNEF (BNEF).

The research firm said in a report PV ruled as the main new power-generating technology source added to grids in dozens of countries oscillating from Australia, to India, Italy, Namibia, Uruguay and the U.S. in 2019.

In all, 81 countries built at least 1 MW of solar in 2019 and solar power accounted for virtually half of all new power generation capacity constructed worldwide.

The findings are underlined in BNEF’s new Power Transition Trends 2020 report, an online tool, which tracks comprehensive capacity and generation data over the past decade.

The report highlights the massive strides solar has made in a decade, escalating 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 globally 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. Comprising hydro power, renewables made up three-fourths of 2019 commissioned capacity.