Environment & Energy

jpak

(41,758 posts) Fri Aug 24, 2018, 01:10 PM Aug 2018

By 2023, the World Will Have 1 Trillion Watts of Installed Solar PV Capacity

https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/by-2023-the-world-will-have-one-trillion-watts-of-installed-solar-pv-capaci#gs.IktSzqc

It's time for our regular check-in on where solar PV installations are headed. Here's the quick answer: Prices are still going down and capacity is going up around the world. Pretty much the same path we've been on.

But that path for solar has widened.

In fact, within the next five years, the world will likely have over 1 terawatt of solar capacity installed, according to the latest global data from Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables. That's a trillion watts. That's enough to serve more than one-third of America's electricity consumption.

Our last major capacity projection was one year ago, when the GTM Research team forecasted 871 gigawatts by 2022. The latest projections show higher-than-expected growth for every year after 2018. For example, WoodMac projections for 2020 are 26 gigawatts higher than last year's forecast

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By 2023, the World Will Have 1 Trillion Watts of Installed Solar PV Capacity (Original Post) jpak Aug 2018 OP

That's 31.5 exajoules per year defacto7 Aug 2018 #1

Is that electrical demand or total energy usage? jpak Aug 2018 #2

That's at 100% capacity factor? progree Aug 2018 #3

Exactly OnlinePoker Aug 2018 #4

All that solar capacity will be offset by new A/C demand NickB79 Aug 2018 #6

So? FBaggins Aug 2018 #5

defacto7

(13,485 posts)

1. That's 31.5 exajoules per year

Reply to jpak (Original post)

Fri Aug 24, 2018, 01:41 PM

Aug 2018

out of 576 exajoules global usage in 2017. I wish it were better news.

jpak

(41,758 posts)

2. Is that electrical demand or total energy usage?

Reply to defacto7 (Reply #1)

Fri Aug 24, 2018, 02:06 PM

Aug 2018

Do tell.

progree

(10,908 posts)

3. That's at 100% capacity factor?

Reply to defacto7 (Reply #1)

Fri Aug 24, 2018, 02:33 PM

Aug 2018

http://www.kylesconverter.com/energy,-work,-and-heat/terawatt-hours-to-exajoules

OnlinePoker

(5,719 posts)

4. Exactly

Reply to progree (Reply #3)

Fri Aug 24, 2018, 02:50 PM

Aug 2018

Global capacity factor for solar is maybe around 20-25% so knock that down to a quarter and you get around 8 exajoules of generation, less than 1 1/2% of global consumption in 2017. And this isn't taking into account the high rate of increase in consumption which I can't see stopping anytime soon.

NickB79

(19,243 posts)

6. All that solar capacity will be offset by new A/C demand

Reply to OnlinePoker (Reply #4)

Fri Aug 24, 2018, 04:40 PM

Aug 2018

https://m.economictimes.com/industry/energy/power/global-energy-demand-for-air-conditioners-to-triple-by-2050-iea/articleshow/64175009.cms

Global energy demand from air conditioners is expected to triple by 2050, requiring new electricity capacity the equivalent to the combined electricity capacity of the United States, the EU and Japan today, it said in a statement.

The hotter it gets, the more AC units sell. It's a vicious cycle.

Holy shit. To paraphrase the movie Jaws, we're gonna need a bigger solar farm. That, or a couple billion people will either become climate refugees fleeing the equator, or simply die.

FBaggins

(26,737 posts)

5. So?

Reply to jpak (Original post)

Fri Aug 24, 2018, 04:18 PM

Aug 2018

You're saying that on days when the entire globe is bathed in cloudless sunlight... it will be enough to power one third of one country's electrical demand?

After all these years of supposedly rapid growth... that's it?

If only capacity by itself meant something and actual generation didn't... plus being able to turn it on/off when you want of course.

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