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The rapid deployment of solar power is one of the greatest stories of the 21st century.<\/p>\n
After crossing the 100-gigawatt mark in 2012, it took the world 10 years to deploy 1 terawatt of solar power. An additional 1 terawatt, enough to meet all of US power demand at its peak, took less than three years to build. Not even two years later in 2026 \u2013 the precise timing is subject to debate among analysts \u2013 the 3-terawatt threshold was reached.<\/p>\n
No one really noticed.<\/p>\n
Read: Solar will soon pass coal as China\u2019s top power capacity source<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
That makes sense. For most people, the increased deployment of solar isn\u2019t perceived in figures, but in other ways. \u201cTake a train anywhere, say in the UK, and you\u2019re likely to spot solar panels,\u201d said Lara Hayim, head of solar research at BloombergNEF.<\/p>\n
The visual signal is only going to get stronger. Forecasters are so bullish about solar that, in just a few years, the 3-terawatt milestone will seem almost insignificant. BNEF expects the world to deploy more than 9 terawatts of solar by 2036.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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But dig in a little deeper and you\u2019ll find interesting stories. The first terawatt was mostly rich countries subsidising the installation of solar, with China and poor countries still finding photovoltaics too expensive. That story changed going into the second and third terawatt, with China taking the baton from rich countries.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The result is that, even as the world has added solar power at an accelerated pace, the share of\u00a0deployment\u00a0going to poor countries has largely stalled since 2020.<\/p>\n
China has clearly been the main driver of the global story, said Hayim. But disaggregate the numbers, and \u201cyou can now see solar booms in other countries too\u201d.<\/p>\n
In the past few years, countries like Pakistan, Nigeria and the Philippines have seen an extraordinary increase in the amount of solar power installed on rooftops.<\/p>\n
Some smaller markets, such as Cuba and Lebanon,\u00a0have also seen rapid uptakes. It\u2019s why the number of countries with at least 1 gigawatt\u00a0of solar installed has grown to as many as 74 last year, up from 42 in 2020.<\/p>\n
Read: Botswana eyes power exports with $100m solar plant<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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China\u2019s solar deployment has been faster than the buildout of supporting infrastructure, such as transmission and batteries. That\u2019s leading to more curtailment of solar production during peak hours, and thus a waste of resources.<\/p>\n
So analysts expect deployment in China to slow down.\u00a0In its latest five-year plan, the country announced a series of measures to increase\u00a0renewables consumption, rather than production, by more than 50%.<\/p>\n
Read: African imports of Chinese solar panels surge in energy shakeup<\/p>\n
BloombergNEF expects that poor countries\u2019 share of solar deployment will\u00a0start growing again from this year onward.<\/p>\n
Most developing countries are starting with very low amounts of solar penetration in the grid and won\u2019t hit the limits that China and other big adopters are facing now.<\/p>\n
By 2036, more than a quarter of all solar deployed will be in developing countries, with rich countries\u2019 share falling to about 20%.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The boom in solar power has happened as countries have overcome local issues, from a lack of skilled workers to challenges of managing a grid with intermittent renewables. Still,\u00a0Hayim says the main constraint for developing countries continues to be the\u00a0lack of accessible financing.<\/p>\n
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There is, however, a theoretical upper limit to how much solar can be added to the grid. That\u2019s because, once solar power meets all the demand during the daytime, adding more\u00a0is of no value.<\/p>\n
Countries such as Australia and regions like California, which have among the highest solar penetration, regularly set negative electricity prices during the daytime, signaling there\u2019s too much solar power on the grid.<\/p>\n
Read: Rio to tap giant Australia solar project to power aluminum<\/p>\n
Lithium-ion batteries can help extend the solar boom for some time, absorbing excess power in the day and releasing it later in the evening. That\u2019s what Australian policymakers have helped encourage through subsidies for home batteries.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also what\u2019s starting to happen, regardless of policy support, in developing countries like Pakistan and the Philippines, where a battery boom is following a solar boom.<\/p>\n
Without battery energy storage, the solar revolution is unlikely to continue. \u201cWithout enough energy storage, you cannot maximise solar\u2019s potential,\u201d said Hayim.<\/p>\n
\u00a9 2026 Bloomberg<\/p>\n
#world #crossed #major #solar #milestone #noticed<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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