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A Review of Solar Energy : Markets, Economics and PoliciesSolar energy has experienced phenomenal growth in recent years due to both technological improvements resulting in cost reductions and government policies supportive of renewable energy development and utilization. This study analyzes the technical, economic and policy aspects of solar energy development and deployment. While the cost of solar energy has declined rapidly in the recent past, it still remains much higher than the cost of conventional energy technologies. Like other renewable energy technologies, solar energy benefits from fiscal and regulatory incentives and mandates, including tax credits and exemptions, feed-in-tariff, preferential interest rates, renewable portfolio standards and voluntary green power programs in many countries. Potential expansion of carbon credit markets also would provide additional incentives to solar energy deployment; however, the scale of incentives provided by the existing carbon market instruments, such as the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol, is limited. Despite the huge technical potential, development and large-scale, market-driven deployment of solar energy technologies world-wide still has to overcome a number of technical and financial barriers. Unless these barriers are overcome, maintaining and increasing electricity supplies from solar energy will require continuation of potentially costly policy supports.
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The Sun Rises on the Solar SectorEnergy from the sun is abundant and free. Solar energy is in essence electromagnetic radiation emitted from the sun. Earth's climate, hydrologic systems, and ecosystems all derive from the sun. Other forms of renewable power such as wind, wave, biomass, and hydro are an indirect function of solar radiation.
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Utility-Scale Solar Photovoltaic Power PlantsWith an installed capacity greater than 137 gigawatts (GWs) worldwide and annual additions of about 40 GWs in recent years, solar photovoltaic (PV) technology has become an increasingly important energy supply option. A substantial decline in the cost of solar PV power plants (80 percent reduction since 2008) has improved solar PV’s competitiveness, reducing the needs for subsidies and enabling solar to compete with other power generation options in some markets. The World Bank Group (including the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Development Association, International Finance Corporation (IFC), and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency) helps client countries secure the affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy supply needed to end extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity. The approach mirrors the objectives of the sustainable energy for all initiative - achieving universal access, accelerating improvements in energy efficiency, and doubling the global share of renewable energy by 2030. The World Bank Group recognizes that each country determines its own path for achieving its energy aspirations, and that each country’s transition to a sustainable energy sector involves a unique mix of resource opportunities and challenges, prompting a different emphasis on access, efficiency, and renewable energy. The objective of this guidebook is to enhance the reader’s understanding of how to successfully develop, finance, construct, and operate utility-scale solar PV power plants. The guidebook focuses on aspects of project development that are specific to solar. From this perspective it covers all aspects of the overall project development process including site identification, plant design, energy yield, permits and licenses, contractual arrangements, and financing, giving sparser coverage to general project development basics that are not specific to solar. This guide covers the key building blocks to developing a successful utility-scale solar power project (the threshold for utility-scale depends on the market, but generally at least 5 megawatt (MW).