Latest News: 17 October 2001: SOLAR ABLE TO MEET A QUARTER OF GLOBAL ENERGY NEEDS BY 2040.

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Solar Generation: electricity for over 1 billion people and 2 million jobs by 2020 - a report by EPIA and Greenpeace.
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Executive Summary.
Part 1.
Part 2.
Part 3.
Part 4.
Part 5.

"The target: realisation of a common goal of sustantially increasing the penetration of solar electricity into the global energy mix whilst also cutting greenhouse gas emissions."


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Global Status of Solar Photovoltaics

The solar electricity market is booming. In the year 2000 the cumulative installed capacity of all solar photovoltaic (PV) systems around the world passed the landmark figure of 1,200 Megawatt peak (MWp). At the same time global shipments of PV cells and modules have been growing at an average annual rate of 33% since 1996.

Such has been the growth in the solar electricity industry that it is now worth more than an annual $1 billion in sales. Competition among the major manufacturers has become increasingly intense, with new players entering the market as the potential for PV opens up. The world wide photovoltaics industry, particularly in Europe and Japan, is investing heavily in new production facilities and technologies. At the same time, political support for the development of solar electricity has led to far-reaching support and promotion frameworks being put in place in a number of countries, notably Germany and Japan.

This clear commercial and political commitment to the expansion of the PV industry means that the current surge of activity in the solar electricity sector is just the start of the massive transformation and expansion expected to occur over the coming decades. The target: realisation of a common goal of substantially increasing the penetration of solar electricity into the global energy mix while also cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

Much work still needs to be done to turn potential into reality. One crucial step is to bring a far broader range of actors into the sector, particularly in the investment finance, marketing and retail areas. At the same time, there is a need to transmit to as wide an audience as possible the message that solar electricity will bring socio-economic and environmental benefits to regions which proactively encourage its uptake and the development of a local industrial base.

Solar Generation: The impact of solar electricity on the lives of consumers and job seekers born today

Numerous qualitative analyses about the potential market development of solar photovoltaics have been published in the past. The aim here has been to compile a detailed quantitative knowledge base, coupled with clearly defined and realistic assumptions from which extrapolations could be made on the likely development of the solar electricity market up to 2020 and beyond. The results which have emerged from this extensive analysis point to a technology that will make a major impact in the everyday adult lives of the population born today.

Clearly, this transformation will not happen by itself. It will require the far reaching commitment of both consumers and industry, as well as significant political will. The level of commitment needed, however, has already been demonstrated in those countries which show the greatest growth in their solar electricity industries. We must learn from those lessons and adapt and deploy the corresponding catalysts on a global level if solar electricity is to play a major role in the lives of the next generation.