At this week's Intersolar Europe in Munich, Germany, SolarPower Europe released its latest edition of the 2023-2027 global market outlook.

According to SolarPower Europe's data, the global added solar installation capacity reached 239GW in 2022, with rooftop solar accounting for 49.5% of the new market, the highest level since 2016. The rooftop sectors in Brazil, Italy, and Spain grew by 193%, 127%, and 105% respectively.

The report indicates that 2022 was another record-breaking year for solar power generation, driven once again by China, with nearly 100GW of new installations and a growth rate of 72%. The U.S. remained in second place, despite a 6.9% decrease in installed capacity to 21.9GW, followed by India with 17.4GW. According to SolarPower Europe's data on Brazil, Spain became the largest solar market in Europe with a capacity of 10.9GW, reaching 8.4GW.

Overall, in 2022, 26 countries added more than 1GW of solar power, including China, the U.S., India, Brazil, Spain, Germany, Japan, Poland, the Netherlands, Australia, South Korea, Italy, France, Taiwan, Chile, Denmark, Turkey, Greece, South Africa, Austria, the U.K., Mexico, Hungary, Pakistan, Israel, and Switzerland.

In 2022, rooftop solar grew by 50%, with installations increasing from 79GW in 2021 to 118GW. Italy and Spain saw rooftop market growth rates of 127% and 105% respectively, mainly due to residential installations in Italy and end-consumer demand in Spain. Rooftop growth rates in Denmark, India, Austria, China, Greece, and South Africa all exceeded 50%. Among the top 20 solar markets, Australia, South Korea, and Japan saw a reduction in rooftop solar installations compared to the previous year, with decreases of 2.3GW, 1.1GW, and 0.5GW, respectively. However, all other top 20 markets witnessed growth in their rooftop sectors.

SolarPower Europe stated that large ground systems remain the main contributors to total capacity, but the share of utility and rooftop solar has not been this close in three years, with utility accounting for 50.5% of total installations and rooftop accounting for 49.5%.

Notably, Brazil made impressive progress, adding 5.3GW, a 193% increase over 2021, as this installation surge aimed to benefit from network metering program conditions before changing rules in 2023.

SolarPower Europe forecasts a 35% growth in the rooftop sector in 2023, expected to add 159GW. According to midterm forecasts, this figure may increase to 183GW by 2024 and reach 268GW by 2027. Compared to 2022, the growth is expected to be more stable as energy prices return to lower levels. It is projected that in 2023, the global utility sector will reach 182GW, a 51% increase from the previous year; the forecast for 2024 is 218GW, and it is expected to further increase to 349GW by 2027.

In conclusion, SolarPower Europe's forecast is very optimistic—a global solar installation capacity of 341 to 402GW is expected in 2023.

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