Global utility scale PV surpasses 30GW
Figures released by utility solar authority Wiki-Solar.org show that global capacity of utility-scale PV generating capacity is now 30.3GW. This means that 2014, which opened with a capacity of 21.5GW, will be the fifth consecutive record year for the sector.
South Africa has now joined the elite top ten countries for large-scale solar, following the commissioning of the 75MW De Aar 3 project in August.
The installed capacity of utility-scale[2] power plants in the leading countries at the end of September was:
"Grid-feeding solar generation continues to dazzle, with records being broken all over the place", says Wiki-Solar's Philip Wolfe. "Our figures show the USA has become the first country to achieve 7GW of utility-scale PV capacity. Meanwhile the UK will probably be seen to have topped 2GW, when the summer's completed projects are all entered onto the register."
"Japan and Chile continue to climb the table and, with substantial capacity still under development, will be vying for top-ten places before long."
At over 85MW peak, Moncada Energy's De Aar 3 project in the Northern Cape is one of the largest amorphous silicon solar cell installations in the world.
