Solar hits 60GW in 2015
Global capacity of utility-scale solar photovoltaic energy reached 60GW at the end of last year, according to Wiki-Solar.org.
More than 22GW of new plants were commissioned in 2015, with just over half of the capacity installed in Asia – mainly China and India.
China now has almost 19GW of installed capacity with India having 4.1GW.
North America was in second spot in 2015. The USA now has just under 13GW of solar capacity installed and Canada 1.5GW.
Europe was in third spot, with the UK having most capacity installed at more than 4.5GW.
South America witnessed growth of 60% last year, driven by Chile which now has 860MW installed.
Wiki-Solar founder Philip Wolf said: “A buoyant start to 2016 suggests this high growth will continue.
“Substantial pipelines in India, the USA and Chile – together with emerging markets like Brazil and the Philippines – point to yet another record.”
But, he added, China is an unknown, where there is little visibility of the forward pipeline.
Image: sxc
