Review

Snapshot of photovoltaics – February 2022

European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Via E. Fermi 2749, 21027 Ispra, VA, Italy

^* e-mail: arnulf.jaeger-waldau@ec.europa.eu

Received: 2 February 2022
Received in final form: 21 March 2022
Accepted: 28 March 2022
Published online: 20 May 2022

Abstract

For the past 10 years photovoltaic electricity generation has been the fastest-growing power generation source worldwide. It took almost six decades to achieve 100 GW of solar energy capacity in 2012, but the 1 TW level is likely to be broken during 2022. Overall investments in solar energy has increased by 19% to USD 205 billion (EUR 171 billion). In 2021 more than 180 GW of new solar photovoltaic electricity generation capacity was installed. After the decline in 2020, the Chinese solar market recovered to 53 GW in 2021. This development and the continuous growth in Europe and the USA as well as in new emerging markets were the main drivers. The number of countries installing more than 1 GW annually has increased to 18 in 2021. The continuation of price reductions in the battery storage sector has again resulted in a growing market for local battery storage systems in solar farms as well as for decentralised photovoltaic electricity generation systems. It is also increasingly clear that apart from classic electricity use, renewable electricity for electric vehicles and for generation of green hydrogen will become more and more important in the future.