HOUSTON (AP) - Global cumulative capacity of installed and commissioned PV rose by more than 25 percent in 2022 due to post-COVID-19 price hikes and geopolitical fights, according to a report issued by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).
The figure reached about 1.2 TW by the end of 2022, and China continued to be the country with the largest installed capacity, according to the Snapshot of Global PV Markets 2023 issued by the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Last year, 240 GW of new solar photovoltaic systems were installed and commissioned worldwide, which resulted in the cumulative capacity reaching 1,185 GW, according to the report published by the IEEFA weekly review, citing data from PV Tech.
China continued to dominate both new and cumulative capacity, as it added 106 GW of capacity last year, or 44 percent of the global additions, it added.
The European Union (EU) installed 38.7 GW of solar capacity last year, rising from the 27 GW registered in 2021 and 20 GW in 2020.
Led by Spain (8.1 GW), Germany (7.5 GW), Poland (4.9 GW) and the Netherlands (3.9 GW), the EU was the second largest market in terms of cumulative capacity with 209.3 GW, the report noted.
The United States installed only 18.6 GW last year, down from 27 GW in 2021, under the combined influence of trade issues and grid connection backlogs which reached 1 TW of solar projects waiting for interconnection access, the report noted.
IEEFA is an independent think tank that examines issues related to energy markets, trends, and policies with a mission to accelerate the transition to a diverse, sustainable and profitable energy economy, according to the organization’s website.