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Introduction to Solar Power
for the World
Purpose of This Introduction
The original contributions to the PV book Power for the World: The
Emergence of Electricity from the Sun were written during 2009 and
the beginning of 2010: The book was then available in September
2010.
Four years have elapsed since then, and this period was exactly
the time when the global PV took off for a revolutionary market
explosion. Obviously, it is now time to summarise the events in this
new Introduction. The content of the original book has not been
modified in the second edition; just the contributions have been
arranged in a more rational order. The original purpose of the book
was historical in nature, and the history of PV and its emergence by
the commitments of international pioneers was in no way affected
by these recent events.
By the end of 2012, the world had installed in total 100
GW, or 100,000 MW or 100 million kW of PV, for electric power
generation (all figures in “peak power”).
Three quarters of it, or some 75 GW, were installed in the
last 3 years, while it took 55 years since the first production of
a solar cell at Bell Labs to install just 25 GW, one fourth of what
we got today.
By the end of 2012, no less than 80% of the world’s global PV
capacity was installed in Europe. The driving force for all that
had happened since 2004 was Germany, thanks to a courageous
decision by its authorities. Today, in early 2013, 32.4 GW, almost
a third of global installations, is based in the German territory.