Many countries and territories have installed significant solar power capacity into their electrical grids to supplement or provide an alternative to conventional energy sources. Solar power plants use one of two technologies:
Photovoltaic (PV) systems use solar panels, either on rooftops or in ground-mounted solar farms, converting sunlight directly into electric power. Concentrated solar power (CSP, also known as "concentrated solar thermal") plants use solar thermal energy to make steam, that is thereafter converted into electricity by a turbine.
The worldwide growth of photovoltaics is extremely dynamic and varies strongly by country. In April 2022, the total global solar power capacity reached 1 TW. In 2022, the leading country for solar power was China, with about 390 GW, accounting for nearly two-fifths of the total global installed solar capacity. As of 2022, there are more than 40 countries around the world with a cumulative PV capacity of more than one gigawatt, including Canada, South Africa, Chile, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Austria, Argentina and the Philippines.
The top installers of 2022 included China, the United States, and India. Japan, Brazil, the Netherlands, France, Mexico and Germany were also among the top installers of 2022. The available solar PV capacity in Australia is now sufficient to supply more than 15% of the nation's electrical energy while Honduras, Italy, Spain, Germany and Greece can produce between 9% and 14% of their respective annual domestic electricity consumption.
After an almost two decade long hiatus, the deployment of CSP resumed in 2007. However, the design for several new projects is being changed to cheaper photovoltaics. Most operational CSP stations are located in Spain and the United States, while large solar farms using photovoltaics are being constructed in an expanding list of geographic regions. Other countries, like Finland, Denmark, Israel, Ukraine and Algeria, can also produce any portions of their electricity consumption.
Global use figures
Solar photovoltaics (PV)
In 2022, China had the highest solar power capacity in the world, followed by the United States and Japan.
Concentrated solar power
Africa
Many African countries receive on average a very high number of days per year of bright sunlight, especially the dry areas, which include the arid deserts (such as the Sahara) and the semi-desert steppes (such as the Sahel). This gives solar power the potential to bring energy to virtually any location in Africa without the need for expensive large-scale grid-level infrastructural developments. The distribution of solar resources across Africa is fairly uniform, with more than 85% of the continent's landscape receiving at least 2,000 kWh/(m2 year). A study indicates that a solar generating facility covering just 0.3% of the area comprising North Africa could supply all of the energy required by the European Union.
Algeria
Algeria has the highest technical and economical potential for solar power exploitation in the MENA region, with about 170 TWh per year. First industrial scale solar thermal power project has been initiated by inauguration of Hassi R'Mel power station in 2011. This new hybrid power plant combines a 25-megawatt (MW) concentrating solar power array in conjunction with a 130 MW combined cycle gas turbine plant. In addition, Algeria has launched in 2011 a national program to develop renewable energy based on photovoltaics (PV), concentrated solar power (CSP) and wind power, and to promote energy efficiency. The program consists of installing up to 12 GW of power generating capacity from renewable sources to meet the domestic electricity demand by 2030.
Egypt
Benban Solar Park is a Photovoltaic power station with a total capacity of 1650 MW nominal power which corresponds to an annual production of approximately 3.8 TWh. It is located in Benban (Aswan Governorate) in the western desert, approximately 650 km south of Cairo and 40 km northwest of Aswan. Benban is currently the 4th largest solar power plant in the world.