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Global solar capacity must reach 5.4TW by 2030 to meet Paris climate goals – report

It's been quite a ride since I joined the Solar industry in 2007. Long before feed in tariffs, or any incentives, and with solar panels wholesaling at £2.80 per watt (when you could actually get any supply in the UK). Yet, it seemed so obvious even then, that solar would come to dominate electricity generation globally. Yes, like John Lennon, I'm a dreamer, but I saw it all the same. Back then we measured in Megawatts, my company installed about 13Mw over 8 years, installing one of the largest fully funded/PPA solar roofs in the country at that time (2012- 400KwP). Then we moved to Gigawatts, and now Terawatts. 

If fossil fuels weren't still so heavily subsidised then the figures talked about here would be achieved far quicker of course, but despite the deeply entrenched oil and gas support systems solar has seen a remarkable decrease in costs, and increase in installed capacity. It seems we ain't seen nothin' yet! 

It may be some years ago that I left the solar EPC world, but in the last 10 years along with my team I've had the pleasure to support established players and start-ups in the solar sector, from OEMs of modules, inverters and BoS, to EPCs and Developers to solar SaaS as they have played their parts in the great solar leap forward. I'm looking forward to what (or Watt) the next ten years brings. 

If you're a solar business looking to scale, I'm pretty certain my team are the only executive search firm in the world that has also been responsible for installing megawatts of solar projects, before our decade in executive search. Get in touch.

The GRA and IRENA report forecasts global solar capacity to grow from 1.1TW in 2022 to 5.4TW by the end of the decade, which would see solar account for the largest percentage of all renewable power sources, ahead of the 3TW of onshore wind capacity. The report also expects global renewables to account for 77% of the world’s energy mix by 2030, meaning that solar power will play a significant role in both the renewables mix, and the broader energy mix.

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executive search, photovoltaics, hiring, careers, cleantech, renewable energy, solar