NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Thursday, July 25, 2019

By Nina Chestney

New solar photovoltaic (PV) installations are set to reach a record high this year, driven by improving markets in Europe and the United States and fast growth in India and Vietnam, consultancy Wood Mackenzie said on Thursday.

Low auction prices are also expected to help boost new solar PV capacity by the end of this year to 114.5 gigawatts (GW), 17.5% higher than 2018 and the first time new installations have exceeded 100 GW.

Last year, new capacity dipped slightly, mostly due to a slowdown in the world’s largest solar PV market, China, which ended feed-in tariff subsidies for new projects.

Photo courtesy of Dominic Chavez / World Bank.