Explained: The massive growth in commercial solar power
The growing population, expansion of the industrial sector, and availability of better infrastructure have led to an increase in demand for electricity across the globe. Developed as well as developing countries are trying to balance economic growth while improving the standard of living, for their citizens. These visionary plans have led to an electricity upsurge. Governments across the globe are trying to explore commercial solar on NRG market and meet these demands by increasing their power generation capacity while balancing carbon emission to co-exist on planet earth. These goals have led to strong regulations on power usage and have fostered encouragement towards renewable sources such as ‘Commercial Solar Power’.
What is commercial solar power?
Solar energy is a renewable source of power with the ability to meet the challenges of the new world. Commercial solar power is an installation of industrial size solar panels for extensive self-consumption of electricity. Basis the technology available, commercial solar power is divided into two major segments, Solar Photovoltaic and Concentrated Solar Power. In 2019, Solar Photovoltaic witnessed a dominant market share with a total of 116.9 GW globally with a growth of 103.7 GW recorded in the previous year. On the other hand, the aggregated capacity of concentrated solar power was 6.2 GW with more than 600 MG capacity recorded online.
How do they work?
Commercial solar power is collected energy from the sun, made possible by industrial-size rooftop installations made of layers of silicon, phosphorous, and borons laid in a grid pattern. These panels have a lifespan of 15-20 years with no to little maintenance and can support an establishment, both in the day and at night. Governments across the globe have launched many initiatives in lowering dependencies on coal and other fossil fuels. To support this initiative, governments in China, Japan, the US, and EU countries have stringent feed-in tariffs, investment tax credits, net metering, and capital subsidies to see how you can save with commercial solar.
Impact of Covid-19 on the commercial solar power market
The Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted supply chains, delayed deliverables, and created a massive shortage of labor, be it human or in terms of energy. This lead to a fall in the demand for electricity and supporting equipment. A developing country like India that imports 80% of its solar cells and equipment from China witnessed a fall of 1% in demand for electricity nationwide due to lockdown and withdrawal of investments in industries. Despite the repercussions of the pandemic, the global solar power market at USD 163.7 BN is predicted to reach USD 194.75 BN by 2027.
The Future of Commercial Solar Power
APAC is anticipated to lead the growth of the commercial solar market with China leading solar projects at a total capacity of 30.1 GW. EU is second with its installations at 16.7 GW which is 104% higher than the year before. It has been observed that the application of Commercial Solar Power is higher in end-use industries such as utility, residential and non-residential. Therefore, governments across the world are encouraging their resident industry giants to adopt more utility application-based solar sources. Some of the top global leaders to check out the new commercial solar marketplace are Urja Global Limited (India), Canadian Solar Inc (Canada), BrightSource Energy (US), and Trina Solar (China).
Industries and governments across the planet have realized the impact of using fossil and non-renewable energy sources. Commercial solar power is the cleanest and more abundantly available source of energy that can efficiently support our livelihood whilst positively impacting the planet leading to its strong demands for a better future across the globe.