This dataset contains yearly electricity generation, capacity, emissions, import and demand data for over 200geographies. Contact online >>
This dataset contains yearly electricity generation, capacity, emissions, import and demand data for over 200geographies.
You can find more about Ember's methodology in this document.
The Energy Institute Statistical Review of World Energy analyses data on world energy markets from the prior year.
All data and visualizations on Our World in Data rely on data sourced from one or several original data providers. Preparing this original data involves several processing steps. Depending on the data, this can include standardizing country names and world region definitions, converting units, calculating derived indicators such as per capita measures, as well as adding or adapting metadata such as the name or the description given to an indicator.
At the link below you can find a detailed description of the structure of our data pipeline, including links to all the code used to prepare data across Our World in Data.
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The renewable power capacity data represents the maximum net generating capacity of power plants and other installations that use renewable energy sources to produce electricity. For most countries and technologies, the data reflects the capacity installed and connected at the end of the calendar year. The data is presented in megawatts (MW) rounded to the nearest one megawatt, with figures between zero and 0.5MW shown as a 0. The data has been obtained from a variety of sources, including: the IRENA questionnaire; official statistics; industry association reports; and other reports and news articles.
Some technologies include others, following this schema:
Solar power, also known as solar electricity, is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Solar panels use the photovoltaic effect to convert light into an electric current.[2] Concentrated solar power systems use lenses or mirrors and solar tracking systems to focus a large area of sunlight to a hot spot, often to drive a steam turbine.
Photovoltaics (PV) were initially solely used as a source of electricity for small and medium-sized applications, from the calculator powered by a single solar cell to remote homes powered by an off-grid rooftop PV system. Commercial concentrated solar power plants were first developed in the 1980s. Since then, as the cost of solar panels has fallen, grid-connected solar PV systems'' capacity and production has doubled about every three years. Three-quarters of new generation capacity is solar,[3] with both millions of rooftop installations and gigawatt-scale photovoltaic power stations continuing to be built.
Much more low-carbon power is needed for electrification and to limit climate change.[3] The International Energy Agency said in 2022 that more effort was needed for grid integration and the mitigation of policy, regulation and financing challenges.[10] Nevertheless solar may greatly cut the cost of energy.[5]
Geography affects solar energy potential because different locations receive different amounts of solar radiation. In particular, with some variations, areas that are closer to the equator generally receive higher amounts of solar radiation. However, solar panels that can follow the position of the Sun can significantly increase the solar energy potential in areas that are farther from the equator.[11] Daytime cloud cover can reduce the light available for solar cells. Land availability also has a large effect on the available solar energy.
Solar power plants use one of two technologies:
Many residential PV systems are connected to the grid when available, especially in developed countries with large markets.[22] In these grid-connected PV systems, use of energy storage is optional. In certain applications such as satellites, lighthouses, or in developing countries, batteries or additional power generators are often added as back-ups. Such stand-alone power systems permit operations at night and at other times of limited sunlight.
In "vertical agrivoltaics" system, solar cells are oriented vertically on farmland, to allow the land to both grow crops and generate renewable energy.[23] Other configurations include floating solar farms, placing solar canopies over parking lots, and installing solar panels on roofs.[23]
A thin-film solar cell is a second generation solar cell that is made by depositing one or more thin layers, or thin film (TF) of photovoltaic material on a substrate, such as glass, plastic or metal. Thin-film solar cells are commercially used in several technologies, including cadmium telluride (CdTe), copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS), and amorphous thin-film silicon (a-Si, TF-Si).[24]
A perovskite solar cell (PSC) is a type of solar cell that includes a perovskite-structured compound, most commonly a hybrid organic–inorganic lead or tin halide-based material as the light-harvesting active layer.[25][26] Perovskite materials, such as methylammonium lead halides and all-inorganic cesium lead halide, are cheap to produce and simple to manufacture.
Concentrated solar power (CSP), also called "concentrated solar thermal", uses lenses or mirrors and tracking systems to concentrate sunlight, then uses the resulting heat to generate electricity from conventional steam-driven turbines.[32]
As of 2021[update] the levelized cost of electricity from CSP is over twice that of PV.[37] However, their very high temperatures may prove useful to help decarbonize industries (perhaps via hydrogen) which need to be hotter than electricity can provide.[38]
By the 1970s, solar panels were still too expensive for much other than satellites.[58] In 1974 it was estimated that only six private homes in all of North America were entirely heated or cooled by functional solar power systems.[59] However, the 1973 oil embargo and 1979 energy crisis caused a reorganization of energy policies around the world and brought renewed attention to developing solar technologies.[60][61]
Deployment strategies focused on incentive programs such as the Federal Photovoltaic Utilization Program in the US and the Sunshine Program in Japan. Other efforts included the formation of research facilities in the United States (SERI, now NREL), Japan (NEDO), and Germany (Fraunhofer ISE).[62] Between 1970 and 1983 installations of photovoltaic systems grew rapidly. In the United States, President Jimmy Carter set a target of producing 20% of U.S. energy from solar by the year 2000, but his successor, Ronald Reagan, removed the funding for research into renewables.[58] Falling oil prices in the early 1980s moderated the growth of photovoltaics from 1984 to 1996.
In the mid-1990s development of both, residential and commercial rooftop solar as well as utility-scale photovoltaic power stations began to accelerate again due to supply issues with oil and natural gas, global warming concerns, and the improving economic position of PV relative to other energy technologies.[58][63] In the early 2000s, the adoption of feed-in tariffs—a policy mechanism, that gives renewables priority on the grid and defines a fixed price for the generated electricity—led to a high level of investment security and to a soaring number of PV deployments in Europe.
For several years, worldwide growth of solar PV was driven by European deployment, but it then shifted to Asia, especially China and Japan, and to a growing number of countries and regions all over the world. The largest manufacturers of solar equipment were based in China.[64][65] Although concentrated solar power capacity grew more than tenfold, it remained a tiny proportion of the total,[66]: 51 because the cost of utility-scale solar PV fell by 85% between 2010 and 2020, while CSP costs only fell 68% in the same timeframe.[67]
Despite the rising cost of materials, such as polysilicon, during the 2021–2022 global energy crisis,[68] utility scale solar was still the least expensive energy source in many countries due to the rising costs of other energy sources, such as natural gas.[69] In 2022, global solar generation capacity exceeded 1 TW for the first time.[70] However, fossil-fuel subsidies have slowed the growth of solar generation capacity.[71]
About half of installed capacity is utility scale.[72]
Most new renewable capacity between 2022 and 2027 is forecast to be solar, surpassing coal as the largest source of installed power capacity.[73]: 26 Utility scale is forecast to become the largest source of electricity in all regions except sub-Saharan Africa by 2050.[72]
According to a 2021 study, global electricity generation potential of rooftop solar panels is estimated at 27 PWh per year at costs ranging from $40 (Asia) to $240 per MWh (US, Europe). Its practical realization will however depend on the availability and cost of scalable electricity storage solutions.[74]
About Solar power generation units
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