Solar Power Overcomes Major Obstacles With Record Installations In 2018

Solar power, a beacon of hope amid the grim news about climate change, faced major obstacles in 2018 that had even solar optimists fearing its astonishing run of growth would come to an end. Yet once again it has beaten the naysayers.

SolarPower Europe announced at its annual summit that yet again more solar cells were added worldwide than ever before, passing the long-sought 100 gigawatt (GW) barrier for the first time. All this despite hostility from the White House, trade wars raising the cost of panels in many places, and most damaging of all, the Chinese government capping new solar projects.

It took more than 20 years from the production of the first commercial solar cell to the worldwide installation of a solar gigawatt. At the turn of the millennium, all the solar power in the world could not have powered a middle-sized city. Most efforts to map a path to a clean energy future didn't see solar power as being a significant factor until mid-century, if at all.

Since then, the amount of solar in the world has doubled every two to three years. The more cells installed, the more economies of scale and improved production techniques brought down costs, further increasing demand. If that trend were to continue, the entire world's electricity supply would be pure solar power by 2030. No one expects that to happen, so at some point, this exponential growth has to fade. Last June, it looked like 2018 would be the year – many feared less additional capacity would be added than in 2017.

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