The deployment of renewable sources of energy is picking up speed around the world. The impressive results of several market surveys recently presented at The smarter E Europe 2024 prove this. Photovoltaics (PV) and storage systems in particular are experiencing dynamic growth, and the trend goes towards the combination of the two technologies. The number of large-scale PV power plants is growing rapidly, as is the number of residential, commercial and industrial PV installations combined with storage systems.
SolarPower Europe’s Global Market Outlook for Solar Power 2024–2028 reports a global PV growth of 87 percent in 2023 compared to the previous year. 447 gigawatts (GW) of capacity were installed, which brings the total global capacity to 1.6 terawatts (TW). To put this into perspective, only 239 GW were installed in 2022. According to the study, we are likely to exceed 2 TW of total capacity in the course of this year, after the 1 TW mark was only surmounted in 2022. Achieving the global goal of tripling renewables by 2030 will require financing, digitalizing and flexibilizing energy systems. 1 TW of PV capacity could be installed each year from 2028.
Besides, more and more countries are becoming ‘gigawatt countries’: from 31 in 2023, their number is likely to go up to 37 in 2024. In total, 576 gigawatts of renewable capacity were added last year. While PV makes up by far the largest share at 78 percent, wind power accounts for 20 percent with 117 gigawatts of total capacity. Walburga Hemetsberger, CEO of SolarPower Europe, comments: “The world has truly entered its solar age. How far solar can go will be determined by equitable global access to financing, and the political will to deliver flexible energy systems fit for the renewable reality.”
According to the European Market Outlook for Energy Storage 2024–2028 (also published by SolarPower Europe), 2023 was the year in which Europe saw high electricity prices and the desire to become independent. As a consequence, battery storage capacities skyrocketed. 17.2 gigawatt hours (GWh), that is 94 percent more than last year, were added. This development was mainly driven by the residential sector, where 12 GWh of new capacity were installed. But the commercial and industrial battery sector and on-grid batteries for large-scale energy storage also showed promising developments, adding 1.6 GWh and 3.6 GWh, respectively.
Germany is one of the four leading countries when it comes to solar energy use. The German Solar Association’s (BSW-Solar) study The German PV and Battery Storage Market underlined this with impressive figures: In 2023, added PV capacity grew by 97 percent – the highest registered growth rate in Germany ever recorded. The trend of combining PV systems with battery storage also continued. In 2019, 46 percent of all residential PV systems were installed together with battery storage systems, last year, it was 77 percent. “This trend is likely to continue as supportive regulations are expected to be introduced in the near future,” states David Wedepohl, Managing Director of International Affairs at BSW-Solar. “When combined with intelligent storage systems, the benefits for the energy system go far beyond self-consumption.”
All market surveys are available for free download via the The smarter E Digital on-demand platform: