As many as two billion households worldwide could be powered by solar energy by 2025, a report claims.
Released by the European Photovoltaic Industry Association and Greenpeace, the report concludes that thanks to advances in technology, increasing competition and investment in production facilities, solar power is now a serious viable option in the electricity market.
It could also potentially create more than two million jobs by 2040 as well as an annual cut of 350 million tonnes of CO2 emissions.
“In the past consumers have had little or no choice about the source of energy. However, this report shows that solar power is a real option for consumers, offering freedom from rising energy costs and more importantly electricity generated without CO2 emissions,” commented Sven Teske, Greenpeace International’s climate and energy campaigner.
“The next two years are crucial for solar electricity to move out of the niche market and into mainstream energy production where it belongs,” he added.
In 2005, the total installed capacity of solar PV systems around the world passed 5,000MW. Global shipments of PV cells and modules have been growing at an average annual rate of more than 40% for the past few years. The European PV industry alone in 2005 was worth more than E5bn.
