The world is witnessing an unprecedented growth in solar energy capacity, with last year seeing more new solar capacity built than all other power sources combined. This growth is happening at a rate that is faster than any other energy technology in history, and it has the potential to completely displace fossil fuels from the global economy before 2050.
Solar capacity has already exceeded 1 terawatt, and it is growing at a rate of around 20% per year. If this trend continues, solar energy will reach 6 terawatts by 2031, which would be larger than the combined total of coal, gas, nuclear, and hydro power.
Renewable Energy Pathfinders and Pioneers
Australia is among the leading countries for per capita solar and wind generation, with 99% of new generation capacity being solar and wind due to their low cost. While most leading countries for per capita solar and wind generation are in Europe, Australia is a global renewable energy pathfinder due to its use of Australian-developed PERC technology.
However, unlike European countries, Australia cannot share electricity across national boundaries, so it manages the rapidly increasing levels of solar and wind by sharing it across state boundaries. This has proven to be relatively straightforward, with solar and wind reaching a share of 31% of the national electricity market while the grid remains stable.
Already, three states or territories in Australia are at very high penetration of renewables, with the Australian Capital Territory and Tasmania being at 100% renewable power. South Australia is also aiming to become the world’s first gigawatt-scale grid to run on renewables and sources around 70% of its power from solar and wind.
The Future of Solar Energy
Solar energy has been growing at a rate of 20% per year for decades and has the potential to eliminate fossil fuels from the global economy. Electrifying everything using clean electricity from solar and wind, including electric vehicles, electric heat pumps, and electric furnaces, can replace conventional vehicles, gas space and water heaters in homes and businesses, and gas burners in factories.
If solar energy continues to grow at a rate of 20% per year, it can reach 80 terawatts of installed capacity in 2050, enough to provide 130,000 terawatt-hours per year and decarbonize the world entirely. This can also boost the resilience of countries in the face of war, pandemics, and climate change.
While there may be short-term bottlenecks in building enough transmission lines and ensuring there are enough engineers and installers, in the long term, there are practically no constraints on vast deployment of solar. The sun will shine for billions more years, and raw materials for solar panels are abundant, with no toxic metals or critical materials like cobalt in them. Energy storage is now a solved problem, and most countries have vastly more solar and wind resources than needed to be energy self-sufficient.
In conclusion, the rapid rise of solar energy is our best hope for rapidly mitigating climate change and eliminating most greenhouse emissions, as well as getting rid of car exhausts, smokestacks, urban smog, coal mines, ash dumps, oil spills, oil-related warfare, and gas fracking.
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