Feb 13, 2013 admin No Comments
By Evolution Solar Sunshine Coast

EPIA logoA press release issued yesterday by the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) has announced that global solar power installations have surpassed 101GWs in capacity.

An estimate of 30GWs was installed in 2012 bringing up the worlds global total. Even with all the uncertainty that surrounded renewables around the world, 2012 was a very strong year in the solar industry.

“No one would have predicted even 10 years ago that we would see more than 100 GW of solar photovoltaic capacity in the world by 2012,” said EPIA President Winfried Hoffmann. “The photovoltaic industry clearly faces challenges but the results of 2012 show there is a strong global market for our technology. Even in tough economic times and despite growing regulatory uncertainty, we have nearly managed to repeat the record year of 2011.”

The global solar installed is the equivalent of sixteen coal power plants or nuclear reactors of 1GW each. This saves us of an enormous 53 million tonnes of carbon emissions each year and growing! Small scale PV installations, such has rooftop solar panels, account for 2.3GWs of the total figures.

In addition to accumulative total global figures, the release also showed that PV is spreading more evenly around the world. In 2011 only 8GW of solar power was installed outside of Europe compared to almost 23GWs inside Europe. Figures show that in 2012, 13GWs was installed outside of Europe with almost 17GWs installed inside Europe.

“The key going forward will be to address these new market challenges and continue policies that help PV technology to grow sustainably, continuing its evolution to a mainstream electricity source,” said Mr Hoffmann.

Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) has also released its global wind power figures. There is now over 282GWs of wind power around the world with 44.7GWs installed in 2012. Australia accounts for 2584MW of that with 358MWs installed in 2012.

With such strong figures coming out of 2012, many forecast that 2013 and beyond will be some of the world’s strongest in terms of renewable energy with several predicting a ‘solar revolution.’ Dont get left behind; install a solar power system today! Click here for an obligation free quote and get a FREE generation report showing you how solar power could affect your electricity bills!