Many nations have installed significant solar power capacity into their electrical grids to supplement or provide an alternative to conventional energy sources. Solar power plants use one of two technologies:

Photovoltaic (PV) systems use solar panels, either on rooftops or in ground-mounted solar farms, converting sunlight directly into electric power.

Concentrated solar power (CSP, also known as “concentrated solar thermal”) plants use solar thermal energy to make steam, that is thereafter converted into electricity by a turbine.

Worldwide growth of photovoltaics is extremely dynamic and varies strongly by country. By the end of 2016, cumulative photovoltaic capacity increased by more than 75 gigawatt (GW) and reached at least 303 GW, sufficient to supply approximately 1.8 percent of the world’s total electricity consumption. The top installers of 2016 were China, the United States, and India. There are more than 24 countries around the world with a cumulative PV capacity of more than one gigawatt. Austria, Chile, and South Africa, all crossed the one gigawatt-mark in 2016. The available solar PV capacity in Honduras is now sufficient to supply 12.5% of the nation’s electrical power while Italy, Germany and Greece can produce between 7% and 8% of their respective domestic electricity consumption.

After an almost two decade long hiatus, deployment of CSP resumed in 2007. However, the design for several new projects is being changed to cheaper photovoltaics. Most operational CSP stations are located in Spain and the United States, while large solar farms using photovoltaics are being constructed in an expanding list of geographic regions. As of January 2017, the largest solar power plants in the world are the 850 MW Longyangxia Dam Solar Park in China for PV and the 377 MW Ivanpah Solar Power Facility in the United States for CSP.

Solar PV capacity by country (MW) and share of total electricity consumption

	2015		2016		2017		Share of total consumption
Country	Added	Total	Added	Total	Added	Total
China	15,150	43,530	34,540	78,070	53,000	131,000	1.8% (2017)
European Union	7,230	94,570
United States	7,300	25,620	14,730	40,300	10,600	51,000	2.0% (2017)
Japan	11,000	34,410	8,600	42,750	7,000	49,000	5.9% (2017)
Germany	1,450	39,700	1,520	41,220	1,800	42,000	7.5% (2017)
Italy	300	18,920	373	19,279	409	19,700	7.7% (2017)
India	2,000	5,050	3,970	9,010	9,100	18,300	2.2%
United Kingdom	3,510	8,780	1,970	11,630	900	12,700	3.8% (2017)
France	879	6,580	559	7,130	875	8,000	1.9% (2017)
Australia	935	5,070	839	5,900	1,250	7,200	3.3% (2016)

Africa
Many African countries receive on average a very high amount of days per year with bright sunlight, especially the dry areas, which include the deserts (such as the Sahara) and the steppes (such as the Sahel). This gives solar power the potential to bring energy to virtually any location in Africa without the need for expensive large scale grid level infrastructural developments. The distribution of solar resources across Africa is fairly uniform, with more than 85% of the continent’s landscape receiving at least 2,000 kWh/(m² year). A recent study indicates that a solar generating facility covering just 0.3% of the area comprising North Africa could supply all of the energy required by the European Union.

Morocco
Solar power in Morocco is enabled by the country having one of the highest rates of solar insolation among other countries— about 3,000 hours per year of sunshine but up to 3,600 hours in the desert. Morocco has launched one of the world’s largest solar energy projects costing an estimated $9 billion. The aim of the project is to create 2,000 megawatts of solar generation capacity by the year 2020. Five solar power stations are to be constructed, including both photovoltaic and concentrated solar power technology. The Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy (MASEN), a public-private venture, has been established to lead the project. The first plant will be commissioned in 2015, and the entire project in 2020. Once completed, the solar project will provide 38% of Morocco’s annual electricity generation.

South Africa
South Africa had 1329 MW of PV installations and 100 MW of concentrating solar thermal at the end of 2016. It is expected to reach an installed capacity 8,400 MW by 2030, along with 8,400 MW of wind power. The country’s insolation greatly exceeds the average values in Europe, Russia, and most of North America.

Asia

China
China is leading the world in solar PV generation, with the total installed capacity exceeding 100 GW. China is the world’s largest market for both photovoltaics and solar thermal energy. and in the last few years, more than half of the total PV additions came from the country. Solar power in the People’s Republic of China is one of the biggest industries and the subsidies by the government have helped in bringing down the cost of solar power, not only in China, but the whole world. Three of the top four largest photovoltaic power stations in operation are located in China, including the world’s largest Tengger Desert Solar Park. China also leads the world in solar water heating with 290 GWth in operation at the end of 2014, accounting for about 70% of the total world capacity. China’s goal is to reach 1,300 GW of Solar Capacity by 2050.

India
India has the world’s third fastest expanding solar power program (next only to China & USA). In the year 2017 alone India added a record 9,255 MW of solar power with another 9,627 MW of solar projects under development. India launched its National Solar Mission in 2010 under the National Action Plan on Climate Change, with plans to generate 20 GW by 2022. This target has been achieved four years ahead of its deadline with India surpassing 20 GW of installed solar capacity in January 2018. In January 2015, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an initiative to increase the solar capacity to 100 GW and total renewable power capacity to 175 gigawatts (GW) by 2022. This target is ambitious considering the worldwide installed solar capacity at that time was 177 GW, out of which only 2.5 GW was installed in India.

Japan
Solar power in Japan has been expanding since the late 1990s. By the end of 2017, cumulative installed PV capacity reached over 50 GW with nearly 8 GW installed in the year 2017. The country is a leading manufacturer of solar panels and is in the top 4 ranking for countries with the most solar PV installed. Overall installed capacity is now estimated to be sufficient to supply 2.5% of the nation’s annual electricity demand. The insolation is good at about 4.3 to 4.8 kWh/(m²•day).

Japan was the world’s second largest market for solar PV growth in 2013 and 2014, adding a record 6.9 GW and 9.6 GW of nominal nameplate capacity, respectively.

Pakistan
Pakistan has set up a solar power park, funded by the Chinese company TBEA, in the Cholistan desert near Yazman, about 30 kilometers from the eastern city of Bahawalpur. The solar project, which is set up on 5,000 acres, is producing 100 MW . Another Chinese company, Zonergy is setting up 900MW of Solar Power Plant in the same region.

The first unit was completed with a cost of 15 billion rupees in a short period of eleven months. The electricity generated by the project will be added to the national grid through grid stations and power supply transmission lines. Second phase of the park will comprise 900 MW which will be completed with the help of Chinese Government. . .

Philippines
In 2012, the Philippines generated a modest 1,320 MWh of solar energy.

South Korea
The Sinan solar power plant is a 24 MW photovoltaic power station in Sinan, Jeollanam-do, South Korea. As of 2009, it is the largest photovoltaic installation in Asia. The project was developed by the German company Conergy and it cost US$150 million. It was built by the Dongyang Engineering & Construction Corporation.

Thailand
In 2015, Thailand has more solar power capacity than all the rest of Southeast Asia combined. Thailand’s solar capacity will rise to 2,500-2,800 MW in the end of 2015 from about 1,300 MW in 2014. Thailand aims to increase its solar capacity to 6,000 MW by 2036. That would account for 9% of total electricity generation.

Middle East

Israel
There is no oil on Israeli land and the country’s tenuous relations with its oil-rich neighbors (see Arab–Israeli conflict) has made the search for a stable source of energy a national priority. So Israel has embraced solar energy. Israeli innovation and research has advanced solar technology to a degree that it is almost cost-competitive with fossil fuels. Its abundant sun made the country a natural location for the promising technology. The high amount of sunshine received by the Negev Desert every year has spurred an internationally renowned solar research and development industry, with Arnold Goldman (founder of Luz, Luz II and BrightSource Energy), Harry Tabor and David Faiman of the National Solar Energy Center its more prominent members. At the end of 2008 a feed-in tariff scheme was approved, which immediately put in motion the building of many residential and commercial solar energy power station projects. Luz and Bright Source R&D centers in Jerusalem pioneered industrial scale solar energy fields with initial installations in California’s Mojave Desert.

Saudi Arabia
The Saudi agency in charge of developing the nations renewable energy sector, Ka-care, announced in May 2012 that the nation would install 41 gigawatts of solar capacity by 2032, this plan was later was revised to 9.5 GW installed capacity. At the time of this announcement, Saudi Arabia had only 0.003 gigawatts of installed solar energy capacity.

In 2018 there has been a proposal for a total of 200 GW of solar power capacity by 2030. The newly announced project is estimated to cost $200 billion through 2030.

United Arab Emirates
In 2013, the Shams solar power station, a 100 MW Concentrated solar power plant near Abu Dhabi became operational. The US$600 million Shams 1 is the largest CSP plant outside the United States and Spain and is expected to be followed by two more stations, Shams 2 and Shams 3.

Europe
European deployment of photovoltaics has slowed down considerably since the record year of 2011. This is mainly due to the strong decline of new installations in some major markets such as Germany and Italy, while the United Kingdom and some smaller European countries are still expected to break new records in 2014. Spain deployed about 350 MW (+18%) of concentrated solar power (CSP) in 2013, and remains a worldwide leader of this technology. European countries still account for about 60 percent of worldwide deployed capacity of solar power in 2013.

Austria
Austria had 421.7 MW of photovoltaics at the end of 2012, 234.5 MW of which was installed that year. Most of it is grid connected. Photovoltaic deployment in Austria had been rather modest for many years, while in other European countries, such as Germany, Italy or Spain installations were booming with new records year after year until 2011. The tide has turned in 2012. New PV installations jumped to more than 200 megawatt per year in Austria in an overall declining European solar market. The European Photovoltaic Industry Association forecasts, that Austria, together with other midsized countries, will contribute significantly to European PV deployment in the coming years.

Belgium
In October 2009, the city of Antwerp announced that they wanted to install 2,500 m² of solar panels on the roofs of public buildings, which would be worth 265,000 kWh per annum.

In December 2009, Katoen Natie announced that they would install 800,000 m² of solar panels in various places, including Antwerp. It is expected that the installed solar power in the Flemish region will be increased by 25% when finished, resulting in the largest installation in Europe., the total cost being 166 million euros.

Bulgaria
Bulgaria had seen a record year in 2012 when its PV capacity multiplied several times over to more than 1 GW. In 2013, however, further deployment came to a halt.

Germany
Germany is among the top 4 ranking countries in terms of installed photovoltaic solar capacity and number one regarding per capita installation of PV. The overall capacity has reached 42.98 gigawatts (GW) by the end of 2017. Photovoltaics contribute almost 6% to the national electricity demands. Germany has seen an outstanding period of photovoltaic installations from 2010 until 2012. During this boom, about 22 GW, or a third of the worldwide PV installations of that period was deployed in Germany alone. However, the boom period ended in 2012, and Germany’s national PV market has since declined significantly, due to the amendments in the German Renewable Energy Act (EEG) that reduced feed-in tariffs and set constraints on utility-scaled installations, limiting their size to no more than 10 MW.

The current version of the EEG only guarantees financial assistance as long as the overall PV capacity has not yet reached 52 GW. It also foresees to regulate annual PV growth within a range of 2.5 GW to 3.5 GW by adjusting the guaranteed fees accordingly. The legislative reforms stipulates a 40 to 45 percent share from renewable energy sources by 2025 and a 55 to 60 percent share by 2035.

Large PV power plants in Germany include Senftenberg Solarpark, Finsterwalde Solar Park, Lieberose Photovoltaic Park, Strasskirchen Solar Park, Waldpolenz Solar Park, and Köthen Solar Park.

Greece
By September 2013, the total installed photovoltaic capacity in Greece had reached 2,523.5 MWp from which the 987.2 MWp were installed in the period between January–September 2013 despite the unprecedented financial crisis. Greece ranks 5th worldwide with regard to per capita installed PV capacity. It is expected that PV produced energy will cover up to 7% of the country’s electricity demand in 2014.

A large solar PV plant is planned for the island of Crete. Research continues into ways to make the actual solar collecting cells less expensive and more efficient. Smaller solar PV farms exist throughout the country.

Italy
Italy added nearly 400 MW of solar PV capacity in the year 2017 reaching a total installed PV capacity of around 19.7 GW.

At the end of 2010 there were 155,977 solar PV plants, with a total capacity of 3,469.9 MW.:24 The number of plants and the total capacity surged in 2009 and 2010 following high incentives from Conto Energia. The total power capacity installed tripled and plants installed doubled in 2010 compared to 2009, with an increase of plant’s average dimensions.:24

Energy production from photovoltaics was 1,905.7 GWh in 2010. Annual growth rates were fast in recent years: 251% in 2009 and 182% in 2010.:30 More than a fifth of the total production in 2010 came from the southern region of Apulia.:30

In December 2012, solar PV in Italy provided employment to 100,000 people especially in design and installation.

Portugal
A large photovoltaic power project, the Serpa solar power plant, has been completed in Portugal, in one of Europe’s sunniest areas. The 11 megawatt plant covers 150 acres (0.61 km2) and comprises 52,000 PV panels. The panels are raised 2 metres off the ground and the area will remain productive grazing land. The project will provide enough energy for 8,000 homes and will save an estimated 30,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year.

The Moura photovoltaic power station is located in the municipality of Moura, in the interior region of Alentejo, Portugal.Its construction involves two stages, with the first one being constructed in 13 months and completed in 2008, and the other will be completed by 2010, at a total cost of €250 million for the project.

Romania
Romania has an installed capacity of 1.2 GW as of 2014. Romania is located in an area with a good solar potential of 210 sunny days per year and with an annual solar energy flux between 1,000 kWh/m2/year and 1,300 kWh/m2/year. The most important solar regions of Romania are the Black Sea coast, Dobrogea and Oltenia.

Russia
Current production of 5 MW is very modest, however there are plans for an expansion in capacity by 70 MW in 2012-13 in a $210 million joint project by Rosnano and Renova. The development of renewable energy in Russia has been held back by the lack of a conducive framework and government policy.

Spain
Spain was an early adopter in the development of solar energy, since it is one of the countries of Europe with more hours of sunshine. The Spanish government committed to achieving a target of 12 percent of primary energy from renewable energy by 2010 with an installed solar generating capacity of 3000 megawatts (MW). Spain is the top tenth in the installed PV solar capacity and used to export 80 percent of solar power output to Germany. Total solar power in Spain reached nearly 7 GW by the end of 2016 including both installed PV and CSP. Nearly 8 TWh of electricity was generated from photovoltaics, and 5 TWh from CSP plants in 2016. Solar PV accounted for nearly 3% of total electricity generation in 2016 along with an additional of 1.9% from solar thermal.

Through a ministerial ruling in March 2004, the Spanish government removed economic barriers to the connection of renewable energy technologies to the electricity grid. The Royal Decree 436/2004 equalized conditions for large-scale solar thermal and photovoltaic plants and guaranteed feed-in tariffs, which led to a boost in solar power adoption in Spain. In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, the Spanish government drastically cut its subsidies for solar power and capped future increases in capacity at 500 MW per year leading to a stagnation in the new installations.

Turkey
Registered solar capacity of Turkey stood at 3,420 MW by the end of 2017, although the actual installation can be lower. The increase in registrations mostly happened in December and was attributed to a reduction in feed-in tariffs starting from 2018 (from 0.13 USD to 0.10 USD).

United Kingdom
At the end of 2011, there were 230,000 solar power projects in the United Kingdom, with a total installed generating capacity of 750 megawatts (MW). By February 2012 the installed capacity had reached 1,000 MW. Solar power use has increased very rapidly in recent years, albeit from a small base, as a result of reductions in the cost of photovoltaic (PV) panels, and the introduction of a Feed-in tariff (FIT) subsidy in April 2010. In 2012, the government said that 4 million homes across the UK will be powered by the sun within eight years, representing 22,000 MW of installed solar power capacity by 2020. As of April 2015, PV capacity had risen to 6,562 MW across 698,860 installations. The latest government figures indicates UK solar photovoltaic (PV) generation capacity has reached 12,404 MW in December 2017.

Americas

Canada
Sarnia Photovoltaic Power Plant near Sarnia, Ontario, was in September 2010 the world’s largest photovoltaic plant with an installed capacity of 80 MWp. until surpassed by a plant in China. The Sarnia plant covers 950 acres (380 ha) and contains about 966,000 square metres (96.6 ha), which is about 1.3 million thin film panels. The expected annual energy yield is about 120,000 MW•h, which if produced in a coal-fired plant would require emission of 39,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.

Canada has many regions that are sparsely populated and difficult to access, but also does not have optimal access to sunlight given the high latitudes of much of the country. Photovoltaic cells are increasingly used as standalone units, mostly as off-grid distributed electricity generation to power remote homes, telecommunications equipment, oil and pipeline monitoring stations and navigational devices. The Canadian PV market has grown quickly and Canadian companies make solar modules, controls, specialized water pumps, high efficiency refrigerators and solar lighting systems. Ontario has subsidized solar power energy to promote its growth.

One of the most important uses for PV cells is in northern communities, many of which depend on high-cost diesel fuel to generate electricity. Since the 1970s, the federal government and industry has encouraged the development of solar technologies for these communities. Some of these efforts have focused on the use of hybrid systems that provide power 24 hours a day, using solar power when sunlight is available, in combination with another energy source.

Chile
The 246MW El Romero solar photovoltaic plant open in November 2016 at Vallenar in the Atacama region It was the largest solar farm in Latin America when it opened.

By the first half of 2015 Chile reached 546 MW of PV installed capacity, and 1,647 MW are under construction.

Dominican Republic
In the Dominican Republic, the Monte Plata Project is the largest operating solar plant in the Caribbean with an installed capacity of 69MW.

Jamaica
In 2014, a 1.6 MW photovoltaic rooftop system at a seaside resort, located near the parish capital, Lucea in the parish of Hanover, was inaugurated. It was developed by Sofos Jamaica, and is the largest in Jamaica until a 20 MW utility-scale solar PV plant is constructed in the Parish of Clarendon in 2015.

No central database yet exists with information on installed capacity but, web searches reveal media articles, press releases and vendor web pages that share some details. Based on these sources up to the middle of 2015, there was over 3.7 MW connected to the grid but, a sizeable portion of that total, including the 1.6 MW rooftop system of a seaside resort and a commercial 500 kW-system in the country’s capital, Kingston, do not feed power back to the grid despite being interconnected.

Mexico
Mexico was the greatest solar energy producer in Latin America until passed by Chile. It is planning a solar trough based plant with 30 MW which will use a combined cycle gas turbine about 400 MW to provide electricity to the city of Agua Prieta, Sonora. To date, the World Bank has given US$50 million to finance this project.

United States
Solar power in the United States includes utility-scale solar power plants as well as local distributed generation, mostly from rooftop photovoltaics. Installations have been growing rapidly in recent years as costs have declined with the U.S. hitting over 50 GW of installed solar PV capacity at the end of 2017. United States is in the top 4 ranking for countries with the most solar PV installed. The American Solar Energy Industries Association projects that total solar PV capacity will reach over 100 GW by 2021.

Electrical generation has been rising in tandem with capacity as U.S. Energy Information Administration data show that utility-scale solar power generated 0.65% of total U.S. electricity in 2015, up from 0.01% in 2005. This figure is even higher in certain states, already reaching 7% of generation in California for example.

The United States conducted much early research in photovoltaics and concentrated solar power and is among the top countries in the world in deploying the technology, being home to 4 of the 10 largest utility-scale photovoltaic power stations in the world as of 2017. The energy resource continues to be encouraged through official policy with 29 states having set mandatory renewable energy targets as of October 2015, solar power being specifically included in 20 of them. Aside from utility projects, roughly 784,000 homes and businesses in the nation have installed solar systems through the second quarter of 2015.

Oceania
A number of Pacific island states have committed to high percentages of renewable energy use, both to serve as an example to other countries and to cut the high costs of imported fuels. A number of solar installations have been financed and assisted by Japan, New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates. Solar farms have gone online in Tuvalu, Fiji and Kiribati. UAE-Pacific Partnership Fund solar projects completed by Masdar in 2016 included: 1MW in the Solomon Islands, 500 kW in Nauru, 600 kW in the Marshall Islands, 600 kW in Micronesia and a 450 kW solar-diesel hybrid plant in Palau. American Samoa has 2 MW of solar installed at Pago Pago Airport.

Australia
Australia had over 8,452 megawatts (MW) of installed photovoltaic (PV) solar power by June 2018. The largest solar power station in Australia is the 100 MW Nyngan solar plant, which was the largest in the southern hemisphere when completed. Other significant solar arrays include the 56 MW Moree Solar Farm, the 53 MW Broken Hill Solar Plant, the 20 MW Royalla solar farm, and the 10 MWp (megawatts, peak) Greenough River Solar Farm near Geraldton, Western Australia.

A 9 MWe (megawatts, electrical) solar thermal `coal saver’ system was constructed at Liddell power station. The system used `compact linear Fresnel reflector’ technology developed in Australia. It provided solar-powered steam to the 600 MW black coal power station’s boiler feedwater heater. By 2016, it was “effectively” closed and an effort to build a similar 40 MW solar boost at Kogan Creek coal power station was stopped.

New Zealand
Solar power in New Zealand currently only generates 0.1 percent of New Zealand’s electricity since more emphasis has been placed on hydroelectric, geothermal, and wind power in New Zealand’s push for renewable energy. Solar power systems were installed in 42 schools in New Zealand in the Schoolgen program, a program developed by Genesis Energy to educate students in solar power. Each participating school has a 2 kW solar panel. Between February 2007 and 29 December 29, 2012, 395.714 MWh were produced.

In 2010, New Zealand’s largest thin film solar array was the 20 kW array installed at Hubbard Foods A 21.6 kW photovoltaic array was installed in Queenstown in 2009. In April 2012, New Zealand’s largest solar power plant was the 68.4 kW array installed to meet 70% of the electricity needs of South Auckland Forging Engineering Ltd, which is expected to pay for itself in eight to nine years.

Source from Wikipedia