Over 103GW of solar capacity will be added in 2019, breaching 100GW in one year for the first time, according to a new report from Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables.
The report said growth will be driven by policy clarity in China and Saudi Arabia, as well as plans for solar-plus-storage in Hawaii and large PV projects in India.
Wood Mackenzie also expects over 30GW to be installed in a single quarter for the first time in Q4 of the year.
By 2023 it predicts annual installed capacity of between 115GW and 120GW driven by growth in emerging markets in Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.
This year will see an increased number of bids in upcoming tenders for solar rights below $30 a megawatt-hour and could even fall as low as $14/MWh, the report said.
Auctions are scheduled for Mexico and Saudi Arabia, the company noted.
Wood Mackenzie also predicts that more oil and gas majors will follow the likes of Shell into the solar sector.
“Increasingly, solar PV is also emerging as an obvious opportunity for upstream oil and gas companies to integrate with their extraction operations in remote areas,” it said.
Over 50 resource extraction projects are planned or in operation powered in-part or in full by solar, the report added.