With Paris Agreement signatories set to submit new NDCs targets in 2025 — State of Energy Policy 2024 can help highlight which policies have proven effective, and where they can be expanded. Many recent energy policies show clear potential to advance climate mitigation in the energy sector.
Global solar PV investments in capacity additions increased by over 20% in 2022 and surpassed USD 320 billion, marking another record year. Solar PV comprised almost 45% of total global electricity generation investment in 2022, triple the spending on all fossil fuel technologies collectively.
Power generation from solar PV increased by a record 270 TWh in 2022, up by 26% on 2021. Solar PV accounted for 4.5% of total global electricity generation, and it remains the third largest renewable electricity technology behind hydropower and wind.
Solar PV proved to be resilient in the face of supply chain bottlenecks, high commodity prices and the increase in interest rates experienced in 2022, and achieved another record annual increase in capacity (220 GW). This should lead to further acceleration of electricity generation growth in 2023.
Brazil added almost 11 GW of solar PV capacity in 2022, doubling its 2021 growth. Deployment is expected to remain on this level in the medium term thanks to continuous demand for renewable energy from industry and electricity retailers.
The explosive growth in PV manufacturing has also created overcapacity, leading to a substantial decline in PV prices, a trend that has persisted throughout 2024. While this overcapacity benefits consumers by making PV systems more affordable, it has also placed financial strain on PV manufacturers.