What is the solar resource potential report based on?

The report is based on data provided by the World Bank through the Global Solar Atlas, a free, web-based tool providing the latest data on solar resource potential globally. It is accompanied by country factsheets, downloadable from the Global Solar Atlas, that provide a summary of the resource potential and how it compares to other countries.

What is the global solar power tracker?

The Global Solar Power Tracker is a worldwide dataset of utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) and solar thermal facilities. It covers all operating solar farm phases with capacities of 1 megawatt (MW) or more and all announced, pre-construction, construction, and shelved projects with capacities greater than 20 MW.

Which countries have the most solar PV installed capacity in 2022?

In 2022, the most significant expansion in the solar PV market occurred in China, the US, and India, with increments of 86.1 GW, 17.8 GW, and 13.5 GW, respectively (IRENA, 2023). Fig. 2 shows the contribution of each continent in the world's solar PV installed capacity in 2018, followed by 2030 and 2050 based on IRENA’s REmap analysis.

What is a solar resource database?

It is provided by the World Bank Group as a free service to governments, developers and the general public, and allows users to quickly obtain data and carry out a simple electricity output calculation for any location covered by the solar resource database.

Is solar energy a future energy resource?

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%.

What is the contribution of solar energy to global electricity production?

While the contribution of solar energy to global electricity production remains generally low at 3.6%, it has firmly established itself among other renewable energy technologies, comprising nearly 31% of the total installed renewable energy capacity in 2022 (IRENA, 2023).