By Zachary Shahan | abbconversation.com
How solar power has changed over the last 10 years
Solar power is in a tremendously different place today than it was in 10 years ago. Below are a handful of impressive stats about solar power’s growth, as well as some general stats about solar energy potential that are also quite noteworthy.
1. Even yearly energy potential from sunshine dwarfs total energy potential from any other source.
The annual energy potential from solar energy is 23,000 TWy. Energy potential from total recoverable reserves of coal is 900 TWy. For petroleum, it’s 240 TWy; and for natural gas, it’s 215 TWy. Wind energy’s yearly energy potential is 25–70 TWy.
[Source: A Fundamental Look at Energy Reserves for the Planet]
2. Approximately 66% of installed world solar PV power capacity has been installed in the past 2½ years.
Furthermore, total installed capacity is projected to double in the coming 2½ years.
