Page 457 - A Comprehensive Guide to Solar Energy Systems

470 A ComPREhEnSIVE GuIdE To SolAR EnERGy SySTEmS

24.2 Solar Growth Trends

Solar power was not a major contributor to energy production anywhere in the world until
the early 21st century. At that stage, it began to grow in Europe supported by the creation
of a target for renewable energy which is discussed in a European Commission White Paper [3].
A small target of 12% for the contribution by renewable sources of energy to the Euro­
pean union’s gross inland energy consumption by 2010 was set and countries, notably
Germany, began developing the means to produce solar power on a larger scale. never­
theless, the market remained small, being just 5.25 GWs in 2007 [4]. The main change in
the fortune of solar power came in 2009 with the completion of the clean and renewable
energy (CARE) package of the European Commission [5]. This regulatory initiative paved
the way for the growth in solar power so that in 5 years it becomes a dominant feature of
global markets.
The CARE package contained a directive on renewable energy, which set a goal of 20%
of total energy to be derived from renewable resources by 2020 [5]. This ultimately created
the regulatory certainty that investors needed to begin a large­scale interest in solar power.
It is true that the Spanish market began to grow even before the CARE package was signed
and sealed. In 2008, Spain had the largest solar market in the world [1]; this was driven by a
generous feed­in­tariff scheme, which ultimately came undone after only a year. It is also
true that Germany had support in place for solar before the CARE package; however, this
did initially remain as a relatively small­scale industry and certainly not large enough to
drive a major solar power deployment.
In 2007, solar was still a relatively novel concept. In the rest of the world with rela­
tively small capacities installed, even in places, such as the united States and Japan and
the global market was only 8.9 GW [4]. By 2012, the global market had reached 101.3 GW.
This was not evenly spread globally, in fact 80% of solar installations were in Europe [1].
The solar boom in Europe, driven by regulatory measures and generous public support
schemes, saw markets, such as Germany and Italy emerge as the solar leaders in the early
part of the 2010s. The Energiewende in Germany placed a premium on renewable energy
sources, with both solar and wind deployment growing rapidly. Germany soon became the
largest solar power market in the world, a position it would hold for a number of years. The
evolution of total global installed Solar PV power capacity is shown in Fig. 24.1.
The solar boom in Europe had the fortuitous effect of influencing other countries
around the world. In China, the growth of solar in Europe had been well documented and
the government decided to declare that solar power would be a strategic industry [6]. The
burgeoning demand in Europe encouraged the Chinese government and entrepreneurs
to invest heavily in solar manufacturing: mainly in cells, wafers, and panels, and later in
inverters. This allowed a huge economy of scale effect to begin, delivering the cost reduc­
tion seen in solar power over the past decade [7]. Coupled with the leading research and
development being undertaken in Europe, the prices of solar systems began to fall and
begin the process of taking solar power from a niche interest, to a mass consumer product.
nevertheless, the momentum of deployment began to slowdown in Europe (Fig. 24.2).
Adverse economic conditions made it difficult for many countries to maintain the support