Australia again tops global solar per capita, as world installs 240GW of PV in 2022

Australia has once again claimed the title of having the most solar installed per capita of any country in the world, in the latest Snapshot of Global PV Markets published t by the International Energy Agency and Photovoltaic Power Systems Program.

The new report, which sources its Australian data from the APVI, says Australia has just over 1.1kW (1,166W) of solar per person at the end of 2022, giving it top spot on that metric, ahead of the Netherlands and Germany.

Elsewhere, however, Australia’s rankings are somewhat more modest, coming in at number nine in the global rankings of total added PV capacity in 2022; and at number six on total cumulative capacity.

Globally, the IEA/PPSP data reveals that at least 240GW of PV systems were commissioned last year, taking the world’s minimum installed cumulative capacity to 1,185GW by the end of 2022.

China was the – somewhat predictable – star of the global market for the year, with its own market growing at “a remarkable rate” to install 106GW in 2022, up from 55GW in 2021, and accounting for a massive 44% of the global market.

The European Union ranked second with 38.9GW of annual installations, followed by the US where an estimated 18.6GW was installed, and then India (18.1GW) and Brazil (9.9GW).

The report notes (and Table 1 shows) there remains a significant gap between the first five countries in the cumulative capacity stakes, and the next five – Australia, Spain, Italy, Korea and Brazil – whose cumulative capacities are up to half as much as number five, Germany.

China alone represents 414.5GW, followed by the EU with 209.3GW, the US in third place with 142GW, and Japan fourth with 85GW – 30GW for Australia in sixth place.

At the end of 2022, a total of 16 countries (not including the EU) now have more than 10GW of total cumulative PV capacity, while five have more than 40GW.

In terms of solar as a percentage of electricity supply, the report takes a stab at measuring this for individual countries, stressing that they may differ from official PV production numbers and should be considered as indicative, only.

Taking this into account, the report ranks Australia fifth in the world on this metric, giving solar a theoretical penetration rate of 15% at the end of 2022.

“Nine countries now have penetration rates over 10% (up from 7 in 2021): Spain at over 19%, Greece and Chile
above 17% and the Netherlands and Australia over 15%,” the report says.

“High penetration rates are not reserved for small or sunny climates, nor for countries with very low consumption as demonstrated by both Germany and India in the top group,” it adds.

“The increasingly large volumes of installed capacity are making a tangible contribution to electricity consumption
around the world.

“The two principal markets China (6.5%) and Europe (8.8%) demonstrate this. In total, PV contribution amounts to
6.2% of the electricity demand in the world,” the report says.