Electrical Equipment / Components & Telecoms

According to a report by research firm BloombergNEF (BNEF), 182GW of solar energy was developed last year, accounting for half of all new power capacity added globally, a 25% increase from 2020, Watson & Band Data Watch reported.

In nearly half of the countries tracked by BNEF, including the largest markets such as China, the US, India, Australia and Brazil, solar is the number one choice in terms of volume.

The power transition trend report shows that the global solar power generation reached 1,000TWh for the first time, accounting for 3.7% of the global power generation in 2021, Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation reported. .

The number of countries with installed PV capacity of at least 1 MW climbed from 101 in 2020 to 112 in 2021, more than double the level a decade ago. In 2012, only 55 countries had installed capacity of at least 1 MW.

According to Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation report, the top ten countries with new solar capacity in 2021 will account for 85% of the entire market.

Luiza Demôro, Head of Energy Transition at BNEF, said: "Renewables are currently the default choice in most countries looking to add or even replace electricity capacity. This is no longer due to licensing or subsidies, but simply because these technologies are often the most cost-competitive powerful."

The top 10 countries for solar capacity additions in 2021 accounted for 85% of the overall market, and a similar trend has been seen over the past decade, with 80% of all capacity additions between 2012-2021.

Market leader China will develop 68.6GW of solar energy in 2021, followed by the US with 24.5GW and India with 12.4GW, Watson & Band Data Observation reports.

Emerging markets such as Vietnam and Brazil have seen growing solar capacity over the past decade, adding 20GW and 19GW respectively between 2012-2021.

While Vietnam's previously upbeat numbers are likely to stagnate over the next few years, the situation in Brazil is different.

Thanks to the revised net metering policy earlier this year, from 2019 to 2021, Brazil's grid-connected distributed photovoltaics will reach 10GW, Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation reported.