The global installed capacity for solar power will be increased by 203 GW in 2022, in what will be the first time ever for new annual installations to exceed 200 GW, according to the Global Market Outlook report produced by SolarPower Europe.

The global solar power sector added 138.2 GW of facilities in 2020, which is a year-on-year growth of 18% and a global annual installation record for the sector. The anticipated growth in 2022 is 25%. The world could operate a solar fleet as large as 2.1 TW by the end of 2025, compared to 773.2 GW at the end of 2020.

SolarPower Europe has released its new Global Market Outlook, providing market intelligence for the global solar sector for 2020 and capacity forecasts for 2021–2025.

Solar has reached a 39% global share in all newly installed power generation technologies

Despite the continued impact of COVID-19, a massive 138.2 GW of solar was installed in 2020, according to the report. Solar’s growth confirmed its dominance among all newly installed power generation technologies, reaching a 39% global share. Another significant milestone from 2020 was the fact that the global cumulative solar capacity reached 773.2 GW, exceeding three quarters of a terawatt for the first time ever.

The top 5 solar markets in 2020 were China, with 48.2 GW of new installations, the US, with 19.2 GW, Vietnam, with 11.6 GW, Japan, with 8.2 GW, and Australia, with 5.1 GW.

The 200 GW threshold is being crossed five years after new annual installations reached 100 GW

“Looking back at 2020, we see the impressive growth of solar defying the odds to reach record-level installations. Looking forward, we have reason to remain positive, with the next four years expected to be extremely strong for the global solar sector. Indeed, by next year we anticipate the global solar market increase by 25% to 203 GW, the first time annual PV installations will cross the 200 GW level. This is particularly impressive considering that crossing the 200 GW threshold in 2022 would occur only five years after the 100 GW level was reached,” said Michael Schmela, Head of Market Intelligence at SolarPower Europe.

70% of global power still comes from non-renewable polluting energy

However he warned that numbers are still not that good.

“While it is certainly a cause for celebration that solar keeps surprising us with larger installation numbers, considering the fact that 70% of global power still comes from non-renewable polluting energy, we need much more ambition from policymakers to enable the industry to accelerate deployment, to fulfill the complete potential of solar and meet the Paris Agreement targets,” Schmela added.