The purpose of the Industry Statistics on this site is to provide a 'helicopter view' of where the solar PV industry stands. The statistics highlight:

• the solar PV industry in the context of other global energy sources
• the present size of the solar industry and its historical growth
• the track record and projections of solar energy costs 
• the solar industry in various countries around the world

The data is derived from Government sources and independent consultants.  Where Government data is a few years old, Solarbuzz provides some insight to the latest events in order to ensure that insights are relevant to the current status of the industry.  Solarbuzz provides the solar data in the context of other fuels in order for the user to determine the prospects for solar energy to become a material and mainstream source of energy.

Global Primary Energy Consumption is currently around 9.7 million tonnes of oil equivalent (mtoe). Over the last two decades growth rates have typically been in the 1-3% per annum. The main trends have been progressively decreasing market share of oil, in favor of natural gas consumption. Nonetheless, oil production still holds the highest market share at around 34%.

Source: International Energy Agency

World CO2 emissions grew by 8% since 1990. The contribution of CO2 emissions from power generation increased from 28% in 1980 to 34% in 1996.

Renewable energy sources accounted for 13% of global energy demand in 1999.  Of this 13%, nearly 80% is represented by biomass, which mainly relates to non-commercial uses in Asia.  Hydropower is the second largest renewable power with a market share of 2.3%.  Wind and solar energy accounts for the balance.

Wind energy installation in 1999 was estimated to be 3,600MW globally (source: American Wind Energy Association) yielding a total installed capacity worldwide of 13,400MW.  Of the 3,600MW installed in 1999, the largest markets are estimated as Germany (1200MW), USA (905MW) and Spain (650MW).

Solar electric installations totalled 200MW in 1999, 280MW in 2000 and 340MW by 2001 and 427MW in 2002.  While growing at a rapid pace, solar electric energy globally still only accounts for around 0.1% of primary energy demand. However, this means that relatively small increases in market penetration by solar energy as costs decline, lead to very rapid growth rates in this industry.

In the United States, the energy mix also shows a relatively small contibution from renewable energy sources.

Renewable Energy in proportion to total United States Energy Supply: 2001

Source: Energy Information Administration (EIA)

In 2000, total U.S. net generation of electricity was 3,792 billion kWh, 2% higher than 1999.  Fifty-two percent was generated by coal, with nuclear providing 20%, 16% from natural gas and 3% from petroleum. Hydro provided 7% while other renewables generated 2%.  Generation from coal, nuclear and gas was higher than in 1999, by 4, 4 and 7%, respectively.

The use of renewable energy for electricity generation in the United States dropped by almost 12% in 2000.  Renewables generated 358,606 million kilowatt-hours (net) in 2000, down from 406,322 in 1999, according to the Energy Information Administration. The big drop was from the largest source of renewables, hydroelectricity, which went from 319,484 million kWh to 274,600.  

Solar PV went from 848 to 844 million kWh.  Wind was the only renewable energy to buck the decline, rising from 4,488 to 4,947 million kWh over the two years.Looking at broader total energy use, rather than just electricity generation, the picture in 1998 had renewable energy contributing 8% of the total.  This was dominated by hydropower and biomass (93% combined), with solar contributing 1% of it.

United States: Electricity Net Generation by Source for 2000 (EIA Annual Energy Review (2000))