IRENA: Since 2020, the global installed capacity of off-grid solar systems has been close to "zero growth"!

According to the latest annual clean energy statistics report released by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the installed capacity of off-grid photovoltaic systems installed around the world has barely increased since the outbreak of theCOVID-19 in 2020.

According to the report released by the agency, most of the countries that own and operate off-grid PV systems around the world will have almost the same installed capacity of off-grid PV systems in 2021 as they did in 2020.

In Bangladesh and Myanmar, the installed off-grid photovoltaic power generation actually declined last year. Bangladesh installed 139MW off-grid photovoltaic system last year, a decrease of 16MW compared with the previous year; while Myanmar installed 44.5MW off-grid photovoltaic system last year, which is the same as A decrease of 4.1MW compared to the previous year. The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) claimed that Myanmar also cut 4MW of grid-connected PV systems last year, installing only 80MW.

In the Middle East, Lebanon installed only one 10kW off-grid PV system last year; in Oceania, Fiji added only 33kW; and in South America, Ecuador added only 23kW.

However, while the growth of installed capacity of off-grid PV systems in most countries in Africa has remained stagnant, the installed capacity of off-grid PV systems in Mali increased to 49.5MW from 19.5MW last year, while Somalia increased from 15.5MW to 23.5MW .

According to the study, the global installed capacity of grid-connected photovoltaic systems maintained strong growth last year, with China adding nearly 53GW to a cumulative total of 306GW; India added 10.3GW to a cumulative total of 49GW, and the United States added nearly 20GW to a cumulative total of 93.7GW.

EU member states added 21.4GW of grid-connected photovoltaic systems last year, of which Germany was at the forefront, adding more than 4.7GW and accumulatively reaching 58.5GW. Other hot markets include Belgium, which added more than 1GW to 6.59GW; the Netherlands, which added nearly 3.3GW to a cumulative 14.2GW; Poland, which increased from 3.96GW to 6.26GW last year; Portugal, which increased from 1.1GW to 1.8GW last year; 10.3GW increased to 13.6GW.

Estonia, Ireland and Moldova also made significant progress in installing grid-connected PV systems, while the Czech Republic fell from 2,123MW in 2020 to 2,119MW and Slovenia from 370MW to 367MW.

In Africa, while Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Morocco, Senegal, Seychelles, Somalia, Togo and Zimbabwe have made progress in installing grid-connected PV systems in 2021, the installed capacity is relatively small. Of the 298MW of photovoltaic systems connected to the grid that year, South Africa alone added 231MW.

In Asia, Kazakhstan will see the fastest growth in 2021, from 1.72GW in 2020 to 2.83GW, adding 1,115MW, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). The installed capacity of PV systems in Brunei, Cambodia, Japan, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore and Zbekistan also made some progress, increasing from a total installed capacity of 4MW the year before to 104MW last year. However, Vietnam's installed PV system capacity appears to have stagnated last year after soaring from 8MW of grid connection five years ago to 16.7GW in 2020.

The installed capacity of grid-connected PV systems installed in Panama nearly doubled last year, from 242MW to 465MW. Central America also saw a marked increase, with Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Dominica, and Nicaragua all exceeding 1MW of grid-connected PV systems installed last year.

According to statistics, Turkey has increased from 6.67GW in 2020 to 7.82GW in 2021, and Armenia’s installed grid-connected PV capacity has almost doubled from 95MW to 183MW. Of the 1,736MW of grid-connected PV systems installed in Oceania, Australia has 1,732MW and New Zealand has just 4MW. Saudi grid-connected PV systems installed in the Middle East have grown significantly, from 59MW to 389MW.

Brazil added more than 5GW of grid-connected PV systems last year to a cumulative total of 13GW; markets in Argentina and Chile are also recovering as Colombia increased its capacity from 86MW to 184MW.

The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) pointed out in the report that there are still more than a dozen countries and regions in the world without any grid-connected photovoltaic systems, such as: Central African Republic, Djibouti, Lesotho, Sao Tome, Principe in Africa ; British Virgin Islands, St. Barts and Dominica in the Caribbean; and Bhutan, Faroe Islands, Malvinas, Paraguay, Greenland.