Most operational CSP stations are located in Spain and the United States, while large solar farms using photovoltaics are being constructed in an expanding list of geographic regions. Other countries, like Finland, Denmark, Israel, Ukraine and Algeria, can also produce any portions of their electricity consumption.
China is the world's largest market for both photovoltaics and solar thermal energy. and in the last few years, more than half of the total PV additions came from the country.
The utilization of renewable energy as a future energy resource is drawing significant attention worldwide. The contribution of solar energy (including concentrating solar power (CSP) and solar photovoltaic (PV) power) to global electricity production, as one form of renewable energy sources, is generally still low, at 3.6%.
Rapid solar PV development has occurred in other areas since 2013, particularly in China. In 2017, China became the largest solar PV market, outperforming Europe, with approximately 1/3 of the world’s installed capacity. The world's cumulative installed solar PV power capacity passed 1046 GW in 2022 (IRENA, 2023). Table 3.
In 2023, California accounted for the largest percentage share of total utility-scale solar electricity generation (25%), followed by Texas (17%). California accounted for nearly 40% of total generation from small-scale PV systems. Most small-scale PV systems are installed on or near buildings.
Consequently, in seven countries (Djibouti and Lesotho in Africa; Bhutan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan in Asia; and Paraguay in South America), about 23.3%, there is solar energy research; however, there is still no observable solar energy development in these seven regions.
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Armenia due its geographical and climate properties is well-suited for the solar energy utilization. According to the Ministry of Energy Infrastructure and Natural Resources of Armenia the country is capable of producing 1850 kWh/m per year. For comparison European countries are capable of around 1000 kWh/m per year on average. Two main panel types utilized in Armenia are the photovoltaic