Of course PV is on the increase - due entirely to the vanity of idiot politicians, aided and abetted by rent-seeking fellow travelers, who are robbing the electricity consumer and/or the taxpayer in their naive enthusiasm to save the planet from wicked CO2 (actually in itself a non-existent problem, but even if it were a problem, PV in northern latitudes is NOT the answer).
Once a political idea takes hold it takes years to combat. Anybody who is in any doubt about this should read the following IEEE report on windfarms with particular regard to Germany where the solar PV fiasco has reached epic proportions:
http://spectrum.ieee.org/energy/renewables/a-skeptic-looks-at-alternative-energy/0
The fact is, PV in Germany is less than 10% efficient due to the lack of sunlight in northern latitudes, against 80-90% delivery efficiency for conventional power plant.
When comparing installed capacity, keen eco warriors somehow forget to mention that factor of 8x between PV and conventional when they are extolling the relative cost effectiveness of the two sources of power. They also forget the huge capital investment costs and subsidies. All this money is being poured wastefully into a technology that is inherently useless for northern climates.
The increase in solar photovoltaic capacity has been well documented in reports here and elsewhere over the years. But nothing quite captures solar PV’s dramatic rise in capacity like a good graphic. Or three graphics, for that matter.
Solar power generating capacity grew by 73.3 percent in 2011, according to the 2012 BP Statistical Review of World Energy. That’s the fastest growth since BP started tracking that data in 1996. Total capacity grew by 29.3 gigawatts to reach 63.4 GW. Capacity has grown almost ten-fold over the past five years, according to BP’s annual report.
BP released its annual statistical review last month and at the time, the graphic, which is pictured below, stood out to me. I proceeded to promptly forget the visually striking data until today, when I spotted a series of renewable energy graphics based on BP’s stats created by Robert Rapier of R-Squared blog at ConsumerEnergyReport.com. Rapier’s renewable energy graphics are part of a larger graphical series on energy.
Here’s BP’s graphic, which accompanied the report.
Here is Rapier’s global solar PV graphic.
Both graphics illustrate Europe’s primary role in driving solar PV capacity, thanks largely to incentives. In 2011, solar capacity growth was dominated by two countries, Italy, which added 9.3 GW, and Germany, which added 7.5 GW. Together, they accounted for 57.1 percent of global capacity growth in 2011, according to BP’s report.
The U.S. and China clearly trail Europe in terms of solar power generation. Rapier broke out the solar PV numbers for the U.S., China and Japan to illustrate the dramatic growth in those countries as well.
Photo: SunEdison; Graphics from BP and Robert Rapier
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