Solar Energy Mapping The Road Ahead

Solar Energy
Mapping the road ahead
October 2019
Solar Energy: Mapping the Road Ahead Abstract
Abstract
Solar Energy: Mapping the Road Ahead is a collaborative effort of the International Energy Agency
(IEA) and the International Solar Alliance (ISA) to provide government, industry and civil society
stakeholders with the methodology and tools to plan and implement national and regional solar
energy roadmaps. Despite plummeting costs, solar energy expansion still depends largely on
policy makers setting ambitious targets and implementing sound policies, market designs and
regulatory frameworks, including for technological research, development and deployment. This
guide for policy makers addresses all solar technologies – solar photovoltaic (PV) electricity,
concentrating solar power (CSP, or solar thermal electricity [STE]), and solar heating and cooling
(SHC). As well, it looks at applications such as utility-scale PV and CSP power generation; on- and
off-grid distributed electricity generation; solar thermal water/space heating and cooling; solar
heat for industry; solar cooking; and solar fuels.
Sound knowledge of solar energy resources, its constituents (direct and diffuse radiation) and
variations across time scales is a prerequisite. Solar resources must be analysed together with
energy demand, its elements (electricity, heat, transport, fuel) and its variations from one time
period to another. Importantly, this guide also addresses resource variability and key energy
access concerns.
Designed for decision makers in developing and emerging as well as developed economies, this
guide does not cover every aspect of solar energy technology, policy and deployment. Rather, it
aims to provide a comprehensive list of steps and issues for each phase of solar energy
roadmapping and deployment. Selected case studies encapsulate the wide array of existing
applications, and discussions of deployment drivers and barriers are accompanied by realistic
recommendations for actions, tools, and useful information.
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Solar Energy: Mapping the Road Ahead Acknowledgments
Acknowledgements
This publication was prepared by the International Energy Agency in co-operation with the
International Solar Alliance. Cédric Philibert of the Renewable Energy Division of the IEA oversaw
the project and is the principal author. Karolina Daszkiewicz, Simone Landolina and Tobias Rinke,
of the IEA, and Mohua Mukherjee, of the ISA, provided key contributions. Paolo Frankl, Head of
the Renewable Energy Division, provided strategic guidance. Keisuke Sadamori, Director of
Energy Markets and Security reviewed the document and provided expert advice.
Manuel Collares Pereira (Evora University), Luis Crespo (Protermosolar), Edwin Haesen (IEA),
Philippe Malbranche (Institut National de l’Energie Solaire), Daniel Mugnier (SHC TCP) and
Stefan Nowak (PVPS TCP) provided invaluable insights. Renate Egan (Autralian Photovoltaic
Institute), Sarah Grettve (Swedish Energy Agency), , Moira Torres Aguilar, Julien Mas and Cécile
Martin-Phipps (ISA), Christoph Richter (SolarPaces TCP), and Mamoru Terakado (NEDO)
provided useful comments.
The Communications and Digital Office of the IEA has provided strong support for the publication
and distribution of this report, with special thanks to the Acting Director, Jad Mouawad, and to
Astrid Dumond, Clara Vallois and Therese Walsh for production and editorial co-ordination.
Thanks to Kristine Douaud for editing the report.
This work was made possible by financial support from the French government through ADEME,
and from the German government.
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Solar Energy: Mapping the Road Ahead Foreword
Foreword
The potential of solar energy is huge, with enough sunlight striking the earth every two hours to
provide the entire planet's energy needs for a whole year. Combined with rapid technological
progress and cost declines, solar energy holds the promise to be a very large contributor of clean
and affordable energy, in particular for the 7 billion people expected to live in our planet’s sunbelt
by mid-century.
Technology costs have massively diminished in the past decade, especially for photovoltaic
energy. Solar PV is the fastest growing power source around the world, and this will continue. But
progress is uneven across countries and related technologies such as solar thermal and
concentrating solar are lagging behind. Stronger policies are needed to put solar energy in line
with the world’s ambitions to achieve energy access for all, tackle climate change and reduce air
pollution.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) and the International Solar Alliance (ISA) are working
together to accelerate solar deployment in many different areas, thanks to our complementary
resources and work programmes. In some countries, policy makers are mainly concerned with
smoothly integrating solar into energy systems, including for buildings, industry, and mobility.
This is an area where the IEA has considerable experience and is playing a leading role. Other
countries are still at an earlier stage and show considerable interest in the ISA programme of work
regarding, for example, scaling solar applications for agriculture, solar mini-grids and rooftop
solar. For all, affordable finance at scale will prove decisive.
This Guide for Policymakers was produced jointly by the IEA and the ISA. Its aim is to inform policy
makers, industry, and civil society on how to develop national and regional roadmaps for
deploying solar energy at all scales, using all technologies, responding to all sorts of energy needs
and taking into account local specific contexts. We trust it provides the necessary information
and methodological tools to make solar road mapping a success. We believe it will help all
countries reap the magnitude of benefits that would come with an accelerated deployment of
solar energy: improved access to energy, increased energy security and affordability, more
inclusive and sustainable economic growth, cleaner air in cities and homes, and an invaluable
contribution to mitigating climate change.
Dr Fatih Birol, Executive Director Upendra Tripathy, General Director
International Energy Agency International Solar Alliance
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Solar Energy: Mapping the Road Ahead Highlights
Highlights
Sound knowledge of solar energy resources, its constituents (direct and diffuse radiation)
and variations across time scales is a prerequisite. Solar resources must be analysed
together with energy demand, its elements (electricity, heat, transport, fuel) and its
variations from one time period to another.
Solar technologies use the radiative energy of sunshine in a wide spectrum of applications
to provide electricity, heat and cold, and even fuel. Rather than assessing them separately,
photovoltaic (PV) energy, concentrating solar power (CSP) and solar thermal heating and
cooling (SHC) should be considered as complementary technologies.
PV technology is unique in its extreme scalability, ranging from watt-scale individual

systems to kilowatt- and megawatt-scale distributed domestic and industrial power
systems and to power plants of hundreds of megawatts. It can thus provide off-grid
electricity access as well as power micro- and mini-grids, strengthen grids at their fringes,
and deliver significant power to fully developed existing networks.
PV and CSP are the two main technologies for generating electricity from sunshine. While
PV is less expensive, CSP with built-in thermal storage can improve power system
flexibility and stability, increase the solar share and integrate more variable renewable
energy. Solar power can also be used to produce and export hydrogen-rich chemicals and
fuels.
The portfolio of SHC options is even larger, with solar thermal systems offering highly
efficient solutions at various temperatures and for different applications (domestic hot
water, space heating, district heating, process heat and even thermally driven cooling) in
addition to solar electricity-driven heating and cooling devices. While solar thermal energy
is currently used primarily for domestic water heating, it has considerable potential to
generate process heat in the future.
Elaborating and implementing roadmaps would help ensure successive deployment. The
process is as important as the content of the documents, and it should associate all
stakeholders, and ensure the collaboration of many ministerial departments at the higher
possible level.
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Solar Energy: Mapping the Road Ahead Table of contents
Table of contents
Executive summary..................................................................................................................................... 7
Removing barriers to investment ......................................................................................................................... 7
A guide for policy makers .................................................................................................................................... 8
Findings and recommendations .................................................................................................................. 9
Policy recommendations ..................................................................................................................................... 9
Three families of technologies ............................................................................................................................. 9
Market and policy trends ................................................................................................................................... 13
Enabling technologies and system integration ................................................................................................... 15
Designing and implementing roadmaps............................................................................................................. 17
Useful online resources ...................................................................................................................................... 20
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 21
About technology roadmaps ............................................................................................................................. 21
About this guide ................................................................................................................................................ 21
Guide structure and roadmapping process ......................................................................................................... 22
About solar energy technologies........................................................................................................................ 23
Enabling technologies and system integration ................................................................................................... 32
Market overview and trends .............................................................................................................................. 36
References ............................................................................................................................................... 43
Phase 1: Planning and preparation ............................................................................................................. 45
Conducting baseline research ............................................................................................................................ 46
Technology situation analysis ............................................................................................................................ 47
Identifying solar stakeholders ............................................................................................................................ 49
Phase 2: Visioning ..................................................................................................................................... 51
Drivers of solar energy expansion ...................................................................................................................... 52
Deployment targets .......................................................................................................................................... 54
Phase 3: Roadmap development ................................................................................................................ 55
Solar technology, project delivery and workforce barriers .................................................................................. 56
Barriers to integrating solar projects into the energy system .............................................................................. 57
Considerations for the enabling framework ....................................................................................................... 59
Research, development and demonstration support .......................................................................................... 63
Phase 4: Implementation, monitoring and revision ...................................................................................... 64
Setting the timeline and milestones................................................................................................................... 64
Monitoring roadmap implementation ................................................................................................................ 64
International collaboration ................................................................................................................................ 66
References ............................................................................................................................................... 70
Annex A. Overview of policy instruments to promote solar uptake ............................................................... 71
Power sector ..................................................................................................................................................... 71
Price-finding mechanisms ................................................................................................................................. 72
References ............................................................................................................................................... 76
Annex B. Acronyms and abbreviations ....................................................................................................... 77
Acronyms and abbreviations ..............................................................................................................................77
Units of measure ............................................................................................................................................... 78
List of figures
Figure 1. Energy supplies from the three solar technology families (top) and global solar PV annual additions by
segment, 2013-24 (bottom) ............................................................................................................... 10
Figure 2. Average auction price by project commissioning date ......................................................................... 11
Figure 3. Conceptual daily energy mix with PV and CSP, medium term (left) and long term (right) .................... 12
Figure 4. VRE shares in total electricity generation by selected region, 2018 ...................................................... 16
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Solar Energy: Mapping the Road Ahead Table of contents
Figure 5. The six phases of VRE integration and the four pillars of flexibility ...................................................... 17
Figure 6. The roadmap development process .................................................................................................... 18
Figure 7. PV and CSP generation in the Sustainable Development Scenario ...................................................... 19
Figure 8. The roadmap development process ....................................................................................................22
Figure 9. Global horizontal irradiation ...............................................................................................................24
Figure 10. Photovoltaic electricity output............................................................................................................ 25
Figure 11. Individual solar thermosiphon system (left) and pumped circulation system (right) ............................. 27
Figure 12. Direct normal irradiance ..................................................................................................................... 30
Figure 13. Main CSP technologies ....................................................................................................................... 31
Figure 14. Conceptual daily energy mix with PV and CSP, medium term (left) and long term (right) .................... 32
Figure 15. VRE shares in total electricity generation by region, 2018 ................................................................... 32
Figure 16. The six phases of VRE integration and the four pillars of flexibility ...................................................... 33
Figure 17. California’s ‘duck curve’ as PV electricity shares expand ...................................................................... 34
Figure 18. Global solar PV annual additions by segment, 2013-24 ........................................................................ 36
Figure 19. Installed PV capacity in sub-Saharan Africa, 2014-23........................................................................... 38
Figure 20. Gross solar thermal capacity additions, 2008-17 (left), and estimated consumption growth 2018-23
(right) ................................................................................................................................................ 39
Figure 21. Forecast of CSP capacity by region (left), and of generation by technology (right)............................... 40
Figure 22. Remuneration-setting for utility-scale renewable projects ..................................................................42
Figure 23. Planning and preparation phase ......................................................................................................... 45
Figure 24. Visioning phase .................................................................................................................................. 51
Figure 25. PV and CSP generation in the Sustainable Development Scenario ...................................................... 54
Figure 26. Roadmap development ...................................................................................................................... 55
Figure 27. Implementation, monitoring and revision phase .................................................................................64
Figure 28. Classification of power sector policies ................................................................................................. 72
List of boxes
Box 1. Solar potential and resources.............................................................................................................. 12
Box 2. Off-grid solar ...................................................................................................................................... 14
Box 3. The importance of the cost of capital for solar projects ....................................................................... 15
Box 4. Solar Cooling ......................................................................................................................................28
Box 5. The importance of the cost of capital for solar projects ....................................................................... 35
Box 6. Floating solar PV ................................................................................................................................ 36
Box 7. Off-grid solar appliances ..................................................................................................................... 39
Box 8. Thought for food: Solar cooling and cooking, a Nigerian example .......................................................42
Box 9. Dispersion facilitates variable solar integration ................................................................................... 50
Box 10. Leveraging local capacity for solar energy........................................................................................... 53
Box 11. When the power sector is not credit-worthy: India’s UDAY scheme ..................................................... 58
List of tables
Table 1. Key questions for baseline research ....................................................................................................46
Table 2. Key questions for solar technology situation assessment .................................................................... 47
Table 3. Potential stakeholders in solar technology roadmap development......................................................49
Table 4. Typical drivers of solar technology deployment .................................................................................. 52
Table 5. Overview of solar technology, project delivery and workforce barriers ................................................ 56
Table 6. Overview of energy infrastructure barriers and action options ............................................................ 59
Table 7. Overview of policy, regulatory and market framework barriers and action options ..............................60
Table 8. Overview of non-economic barriers .................................................................................................... 61
Table 9. Overview of financing barriers and action options for solar energy projects.........................................62
Table 10. Quantitative and qualitative indicators for monitoring progress .......................................................... 65
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Solar Energy: Mapping the Road Ahead Executive summary
Executive summary
The International Energy Agency and the International Solar Alliance have joined forces to
produce this guide providing policy makers, industry, civil society and other stakeholders with
the technological information and methodological tools to map a course towards robust,
accelerated solar energy deployment. Despite plummeting costs, solar energy expansion still
depends largely on policy makers setting ambitious targets and implementing sound policies,
market designs and regulatory frameworks, including for technological research, development
and deployment. This guide aims to provide a comprehensive list of steps and concerns for each
phase of solar energy roadmap design and implementation; an overview of deployment drivers
and barriers; realistic recommendations for actions and tools; and useful information sources.
The IEA approach to roadmap development involves two streams of activities (analysis and
consensus-building) in four phases (planning and preparation; visioning; roadmap development
and implementation; and monitoring and revision).
Unprecedented deployment and cost reductions have taken place in the past ten years:
photovoltaics (PV), initially one of the most expensive electricity-generating technologies, has
become one of the most affordable. Dispatchable power from hybrid PV-concentrating solar
power (CSP) plants was highly competitive in the most recent auctions, and solar thermal
technologies are penetrating new markets for industrial processes and district heating networks.
Progress across countries and technologies is uneven, however, and despite plummeting costs
and 20 years of uninterrupted global growth, the amount of new solar technology additions in
2018 was similar to the previous year (PV additions remained below 100 gigawatts [GW]). Even
worse, the solar heat market has been shrinking continuously since 2013 and is not being
counterbalanced by the ongoing renaissance of the much smaller CSP market.
This paradox reveals that numerous barriers – fossil fuel subsidies, administrative obstacles,
economic difficulties for grid operators and absent or weak support policies and targets – still
impede widespread solar energy deployment. Predictable polices based on clear, long-term
targets remain essential to cost-effectively unlock the immense potential of solar energy.
Policy makers in most jurisdictions must therefore set targets consistent with their needs and
circumstances, framing policies accordingly and designing regulatory and market frameworks
conducive to investment. Together with the energy ministry, the implication at the highest
possible level of many other ministerial departments is important to set objectives in their
respective sectors, to remove barriers to investment and achieve successful deployment.
Removing barriers to investment

Investment barriers are not the same for all technologies. Although PV efficiency is continuing to
improve rapidly, its costs are falling quickly and it is a mature technology, upfront investment
costs remain high for many potential solar customers. Money for safe, long-term investments is
available, but market and policy risks for solar technologies need to be minimised.
For utility-scale projects, distribution companies’ finances are often an issue in developing
economies, so decisive policies must be enacted (as in India). Grid integration issues are often
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Solar Energy: Mapping the Road Ahead Executive summary
feared unnecessarily, so it would help if the experiences of countries that already use significant
shares of variable renewables were more widely shared – although it is important to highlight
contextual differences. In hot, humid countries, combining solar energy with hydropower can
often be a straightforward means of supplying power on demand.
New business models support expanded on- and off-grid PV self-consumption at various scales,
for agricultural, extraction, industrial and service sector production to home systems and small
appliances. The extreme scalability of solar PV makes it a great asset for achieving universal
energy access. Clean cooking, already being experimented with in India, may be the next step.
CSP combines well-proven technologies (commercialised in the 1980s) with more recent
concepts. In hot, dry countries, its use is likely to increase as PV electricity saturates daytime
demand, initially to respond to demand peaks after sunset (as in Morocco) and then to deliver
power around the clock (as in the United Arab Emirates). Lead times for development are long
and capital needs are high, and only resolute policies will overcome these obstacles. The
involvement of bilateral and multilateral development banks is often necessary.
Solar heating and cooling (SHC) technology success has been mixed. Space heating applications
are becoming more common for large-scale district heating systems and are increasingly being
integrated into building designs. Industrial heat applications are also expanding, though from a
small base. Although solar thermal cooling technology benefits from a good match between
demand and resource availability, it is in direct competition with PV systems. Meanwhile, the
market for the most mature technology – domestic water heating – is shrinking. Temperate
countries should review and strengthen their renewable heat policies (especially for solar heat),
as they often lag behind those for electricity.
A guide for policy makers

The process of devising a roadmap is as important as the roadmap itself for ensuring the success
of solar energy technologies. The first phase of roadmapping – identifying all stakeholders and
engaging in extensive dialogue – is decisive. It leads to the second phase, the building of a
common vision.
Elaborating a vision requires that the energy needs of the economy and the population be
analysed in their complexity of forms (e.g. electricity vs. heat) and variability, together with solar
resources (including temporal and locational variations) and other available energy resources.
Then, the most relevant technology options to harness solar energy for either electricity (PV and
CSP) or heat (SHC, or even solar fuels, can be identified. It is crucial to take a holistic approach,
and clear, long-term targets must be set. The next step in the process is to identify barriers and
ways to overcome them, and to assign responsibilities.
Monitoring implementation is the fourth phase. It may require policy-strengthening, but targets
may also be updated and upgraded as problems are solved and costs continue to fall.
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Solar Energy: Mapping the Road Ahead Findings and recommendations
Findings and recommendations
Policy recommendations
Governments should develop solar power roadmaps based on analyses of both their
energy needs and the heat and electricity opportunities offered by various technologies.
The process of developing and implementing a roadmap is as important as the document

itself, and it should associate a wide array of stakeholders and interests. Roadmaps should
present a vision, delineate targets and define actions to overcome deployment barriers.
Reducing investment risks appears to be crucial for solar technology deployment now that
falling costs offer numerous opportunities for profit. Policy makers and regulators are
responsible for defining and implementing regulatory frameworks as well as market
designs conducive to investment (and for rapidly connecting solar technologies to the grid
when appropriate).
Although financial support for solar technologies may still be needed to jumpstart
deployment in new markets, excessive profitability is not a remedy for non-economic
barriers, so total support costs should be carefully monitored. At least for large-scale
plants, incentives should be rapidly steered towards competitive auctions for long-term
power purchase agreements, possibly with some forms of energy management options
(curtailment, storage, etc.) and time-based pricing facilitating system integration.
Solar roadmaps should not be undertaken by the energy administration alone. Virtually all
other ministerial departments can be interested (if only as energy customers in their day-
to-day work) and many would need to be involved as well.
Policy makers are not alone, and can request help from an array of international
organisations. The International Solar Alliance, as well as multilateral and bilateral
development banks and agencies, offers help and a variety of tools, including financing.
Three families of technologies

Three main technology types are used to harness energy from the sun: photovoltaic (PV), which
directly converts light into electricity; solar thermal, or solar heating and cooling [SHC], which
uses using solar radiation to deliver heat; and concentrating solar power (CSP), which converts
concentrated light into heat to drive a heat engine connected to a generator. PV energy, for
which cost reductions in the last ten years have been impressive, currently constitutes the most
dynamic global market, but the significant possibilities offered by the other technology families
must also be considered when laying out a pathway for full-scale solar energy use.
PV cells and modules directly convert solar energy into electricity, using both direct and diffuse
radiation. PV technology can be used on the grid or in off-grid applications at capacities ranging
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from less than 1 watt (W) to gigawatts (GW). On-grid residential systems, often rooftop
installations, typically reach the kilowatt (kW) scale; commercial systems, often installed on
flat roofs or over parking lots, are in the order of megawatts (MW); and ground-based plants
for utilities range from tens to hundreds of megawatts. Grid-connected systems require
inverters to transform direct current (DC) power into alternating current (AC). Installations can
be fixed or track the sun, usually on one axis only. Off-grid applications range from several
watts for initial energy services to mini-grid applications with battery backup, or hybrid designs
that complement diesel generators. Although PV was an expensive electricity-generating
technology only ten years ago, it is rapidly becoming one of the most affordable. It has
overtaken SHC energy supply by 2018 (Figure 1). In the next five years, annual capacity
additions will grow from 115 GW to about 130 GW. The total cumulative capacity will reach
1 TW by 2023 at the latest, and 1195 to 1375 GW by end 2024 depending on the case.
Figure 1. Energy supplies from the three solar technology families (top) and global solar PV
annual additions by segment, 2013-24 (bottom)
700
TWh
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
SHC PV CSP SHC PV CSP SHC PV CSP
2000 2010 2018
180
Accelerated
GW
160
140
Off-grid PV
120
100
PV Residential
80
60
PV
40 Commercial
20
PV Utility
0
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
IEA 2019. All rights reserved.
Note: TWh = terawatt hour.
In just ten years, PV has overtaken SHC as the lead solar supplier of energy.
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PV modules usually face the equator, with the tilt determined primarily by latitude, but it can
also be adjusted to adapt to the ratio of diffuse vs. direct irradiance, or for economic reasons.
The tilt tends to equalise electrical outputs despite differing solar resource abundance among
regions. A growing proportion of utility-scale plants are also using one-axis trackers to further
augment output. The introduction of bifacial technologies may offer additional flexibilities in
the overall system design.
Solar light can be captured and transformed by a variety of solar thermal technologies and
utilised as heat in numerous applications, from domestic hot water to space heating at the
individual and collective (district heating) level, as well as for agriculture and industry. Solar air
conditioning and industrial cooling can be provided by solar thermal technologies or by PV-run
devices. Technologies to store cold can improve the already good match between sunshine and
cooling needs, whereas concentration technologies can provide high-grade heat or steam for
industrial processes and offer more cost-effective heat storage options. Several large-scale
solar concentrating steam plants are under construction in the Middle East and the United
States to replace gas-fired ones for enhanced oil recovery operations.
Figure 2. Average auction price by project commissioning date
Note: MWh = megawatt hour.

Source: Adapted from IEA (2018b), Renewables 2018.
PV electricity cost reductions have been rapid and sharp in a strongly competitive environment.
CSP technology concentrates solar rays to heat a fluid that then directly or indirectly runs a turbine
and an electricity generator. The predominant CSP technologies are parabolic troughs (PTs) and
solar towers. Unlike PV systems, CSP plants use only direct irradiation and therefore need a daily
minimum of sunshine to produce electricity. This limits their use to hot, dry areas with clear skies
and reduced dust.
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Solar thermal electricity costs more than PV electricity, but it also offers more: CSP plants can
integrate thermal storage to deliver electricity on demand, and they contribute to power
system stability and flexibility by making it possible to integrate more solar PV and wind power.
Different combinations of solar field size, storage tank size and electricity capacities provide
great flexibility in CSP plant design. Solar thermal electricity is currently most valuable when
generation is shifted to after sunset to complement PV electricity; in the not-too-distant
future, all-night generation will be required to further increase the solar share in total electricity
generation and reduce the use of fossil fuels (Figure 3).
Figure 3. Conceptual daily energy mix with PV and CSP, medium term (left) and long term (right)
The amount of CSP in the electricity mix will increase as PV saturates daytime production and power
systems approach full decarbonisation.
Box 1. Solar potential and resources

Solar irradiation consists of direct and diffuse radiation. Direct (or beam) radiation experienced as
‘sunshine’ comes directly from the sun’s disk, whereas the diffuse radiation experienced as
‘daylight’ comes from numerous directions. Because solar resources vary daily and seasonally, it
is important to consider the extent to which resource availability matches heat and power
demand variations, as their correspondence will determine the type of facility required and can
signal possible difficulties in deploying solar energy technologies to satisfy energy needs.
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Global horizontal irradiance
This map is without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and
boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area.
Source: World Bank Group, ESMAP and Solargis (2019), Global Solar Atlas, http://globalsolaratlas.info.
Global horizontal irradiance (GHI) measures the density of solar resources available per horizontal
surface area, including both direct and diffuse radiations. Other measures of resource availability
also need to be considered, depending on the technology to be deployed. For concentrating solar
technologies for power or industrial heat particularly, the relevant metric is direct normal
irradiance (DNI).
Direct normal irradiance
Source: World Bank Group, ESMAP and Solargis, Global Solar Atlas, http://globalsolaratlas.info.
Market and policy trends

Record-level PV capacity growth has dominated renewable energy expansion in recent years, and
prices have fallen drastically since 2010 – by four-fifths for modules and by almost two-thirds for
residential systems. Although growth of PV installation stalled for the first time in 2018,
remaining below 100 GW of new PV capacity, growth resumed in 2019 reaching a record 115 GW
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(estimated) installed in over 110 countries. Cumulative global capacity reaches 609 GW, far
surpassing CSP capacity estimated at 6.5 GW by end 2019. In 2018 PV exceeded cumulative solar
thermal panel capacity (then 480 gigawatts thermal [GWth]) for the first time.
Owing to significant cost reductions as well as private sector and government initiatives, off-grid
solar PV applications have begun to bridge the electrification gap in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
Mini-grids as well as industrial, agricultural and commercial applications and solar home systems
(SHSs) can provide an immediate solution for initial or improved electricity access for households,
small businesses and industries.
Box 2. Off-grid solar
The private sector’s market-led solar appliance revolution of recent years resulted from the
ability of a single solar PV panel to supply DC electricity to a distinct solar appliance. Appliances
such as portable lanterns, fixed LEDs, phone chargers, fans, TVs, pumps, fridges, vaccine coolers,
laptops, rice-cookers, etc., can therefore be operated anywhere on electricity from sunlight.
Solar Home Systems (SHSs) are PV systems that often have a peak capacity in the 100 W range
and are installed in off-grid residential dwellings and equipped with a battery for lighting and
for powering various appliances for several hours per day. Operated under new business models
such as ‘pay as you go’, SHSs that entered the market just in 2017 gave an estimated 6 million
people initial access to electricity. In Bangladesh alone, 12 million people have already gained
access to electricity through SHSs.
Larger off-grid solar energy systems are often used for either primary electricity or for backup
power during the brownouts and blackouts that frequently occur in developing countries. These
systems can generate electricity in an off-grid mode for mines, telecom towers, greenhouses and
other agriculture equipment, hotels, hospitals and schools.
For solar heating technologies, even though the Chinese market is shrinking, it is still the world
leader by far. After declining since 2009, European markets regained growth in 2018, and some
emerging economies have demonstrated market dynamism. While individual solar water heating
systems dominate the global market, in several countries (especially Denmark) the installation of
large-scale solar thermal plants connected to district heating systems or large buildings has been
expanding.
While CSP growth has stalled in the former leading markets of Spain and the United States, a
second wave of projects is emerging in the Middle East, Africa and China as market prices fall.
The share of projects with built-in thermal storage is increasing, as is storage size.
More than 120 countries now have renewable energy targets for their power sectors – twice as
many as in 2010. Support policies in most countries are evolving from open-ended feed-in tariffs
to auctions for stable, long-term remuneration mechanisms that may be adapted to delivery
times and locations or combined with market prices, to both de-risk investment and offer an
incentive to deliver electricity at times and locations that are more beneficial for the power
system. For smaller rooftop systems, there is also a shift towards incentivising self-consumption,
with various schemes designed to remunerate electricity injected into the grid.
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Box 3. The importance of the cost of capital for solar projects

Solar technology costs have dropped drastically in recent years, especially for solar PV. Another
factor that has helped reduce the levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) in many countries is the
reduction of investment risks. Perceived risk is expressed by the weighted average cost of capital
(WACC), composed of interest on bank loans and expected investment returns for equity
investors.
Share of financing costs in the LCOE of solar PV

Note: Assumptions are: capex of USD 1/W; annual operational expenditures 2% of capex; 25-year lifetime; 1 800 full-load hours.
This figure reveals the importance of investment risk, depicting the LCOE as the sum of capital
expenditures (capex), operations and maintenance (O&M) expenses, and the cost of capital (its
share is represented on the right axis). With a WACC higher than 9%, the costs of capital account
for over half the kWh cost.
In a comparison of two projects with similar system costs, O&M expenses and solar resources but
different WACCs (5% vs. 15%), the second project’s LCOE is twice as high. The WACC, which is
often overlooked, is important because the bulk of PV plant expenditures occur upfront, before
the plant delivers its first kWh.
WACCs can vary considerably depending on the country, policy framework and perception of risk
by investors and banks. This is why, even though subsidies are no longer required for solar projects
in many cases, governments and regulators have an obligation to establish a risk-mitigating
regulatory framework that delivers sufficient certainty relative to returns on investment.
Enabling technologies and system integration

Wind and solar PV capacity have expanded very rapidly in many countries as a result of supportive
policies and dramatic drops in technology costs. By the end of 2018, these technologies –
collectively referred to as variable renewable energy (VRE) – had attained double-digit shares of
annual electricity generation in 20 countries. The IEA classifies VRE integration into six phases as
PAGE | 15
shares increase. While Figure 4 indicates the VRE levels reached in some countries and regions,
Figure 5 illustrates these six phases and the four pillars of flexibility: power plants, grids, demand-
side response (DSR) and storage.
Figure 4. VRE shares in total electricity generation by selected region, 2018
Source: IEA (2019a), Status of Power System Transformation 2019: Power System Flexibility.
Existing power system flexibility makes it easy to integrate PV electricity initially, but integrating
larger shares will require greater flexibility.
The first two phases of integration are easily manageable owing to the flexibility of power systems,
but close policy-maker attention is nevertheless very helpful at this stage. Attention should focus
on grid connection codes, on adequate forecasting of solar PV (and wind) plant output, and on
managing the interface between high- and low-voltage grids. Moreover, steps must be taken to
adapt renewable energy deployment to the needs of the wider power system, not only the reverse.
This relates especially to the complementarities of technologies with different output profiles (PV,
wind, CSP) and to the localisation of new plants, but may also affect plant design and management.
In phases 3 and 4, PV (or wind) accounts for large shares of the power mix. Power system flexibility
may need to be increased at this point by implementing DSR, expanding grid interconnections,
raising hydropower capacity, using CSP and other thermal plants in a flexible manner, and
eventually expanding storage from pumped storage hydropower and batteries.
In the final phases of integration (5 and 6), seasonal imbalances may be the primary impediment to
integrating very large shares of solar and wind, with risks of shortages during periods of low sun and
wind, and large surpluses at times of high electricity generation and low demand. Flexible
electrification of end-use sectors (buildings, industry and transport) and the production of
electricity-based hydrogen and hydrogen-rich fuels could provide seasonal renewable energy
storage in addition to further decarbonising the overall energy mix. Producing such fuels could also
make use of stranded renewable resources in regions with excellent solar and wind potential,
launching a novel global energy trade.
PAGE | 16
Figure 5. The six phases of VRE integration and the four pillars of flexibility
VRE integration requires the use of all flexibility options, of which storage is just one.
Designing and implementing roadmaps

Solar Energy: Mapping the Road Ahead aims to provide government, industry, civil society and
community stakeholders with the methodology and tools to successfully plan and implement
national and regional solar energy roadmaps. This guide’s holistic approach encompasses all solar
technologies – solar PV, CSP and SHC.
Figure 6 illustrates the two streams of activities that make up roadmap development: those that
focus on analysis (in orange) and those centred on decision-making and consensus-building (in
blue).
The evolving process by which a roadmap is created, implemented, monitored and updated is
crucial to achieve the goals it sets out. Creation of the plan should maximise stakeholder
engagement to build consensus and increase the likelihood that those involved will implement
the roadmap’s priorities and together seek early solutions to anticipated barriers. Ideally, a
roadmap is a dynamic document that incorporates metrics to monitor progress in meeting its
stated goals, and is flexible enough to be updated as the market, technology and policy context
evolves.
The overall process should be overseen by the government, as many ministerial departments
could be involved together with the ministry in charge of energy. Virtually all have buildings and
services that require energy supply to service the population. Many are also relevant for their
action.
For example, the agriculture department is concerned by many applications, from combining PV
panels and crops or pasture, running water pumping, transformation processes, etc. The
education ministry could help disseminate information to children and through them, families,
as well as to older students. The health department is concerned with providing electricity to
health services, as well as food preservation, which is also of interest to the ministries of
PAGE | 17
agriculture and economy. The ministry of transportation could help in transitioning from fossil
fuels vehicles to solar mobility services. The finance ministry could play an important role in
removing subsidies to fossil fuels and introducing some initial support to solar deployment. The
ministry in charge of habitat could help link energy efficiency and PV deployment in responding
to a growing demand for space cooling… and this list is not exhaustive.
The ISA is available to help countries elaborate their own solar roadmaps, organised around their
respective national focal points.
Figure 6. The roadmap development process
Note: Dotted lines indicate optional steps, depending on available capabilities and resources.
Source: Adapted from IEA (2014a), Energy Technology Roadmaps.
IEA roadmap development involves two streams of activities (analysis and consensus-building) in four
phases: planning, visioning, development and implementation.
The four phases in brief

The planning and preparation phase involves examining the technological, market and public
policy situation specific to the solar technologies covered by the roadmap. In addition to this
broad analysis, a comprehensive understanding of solar potential and resources must be
developed.
Because the range of essential solar energy stakeholders is wide in most countries, not only is
it critical to identify them early in the process, it is also important to consider how they should
be involved in roadmapping at the different levels of engagement (Responsible, Authorised,
Consulted and Informed).
The second phase of roadmapping involves developing a vision for solar technology
deployment in the country or region within a specified time frame. A clear statement of the
drivers for using solar energy is essential to develop the roadmap’s vision and long-term goals.
Clear, realistic targets are an important component of any national or regional roadmap’s
guiding vision. A precise vision and credible goals make it easier to implement a roadmap
effectively, particularly when targets are mandatory rather than aspirational. Although energy
infrastructure, energy demand profiles and solar resource accessibility differ from one country
PAGE | 18
to the next, global analyses such as the IEA’s Sustainable Development Scenario may
nevertheless help guide efforts (Figure 7).
Figure 7. PV and CSP generation in the Sustainable Development Scenario

TWh
8000 30%
7000
25%
6000 PV
20% CSP
5000
4000 15% Share of PV
3000 Share of CSP
10%
2000
5%
1000
0 0%
2017 2025 2030 2035 2040
Source: IEA (2018c), World Energy Outlook 2018.
In climate-friendly scenarios, solar technologies provide up to 30% of global electricity.
The next phase, roadmap development, is devoted to identifying barriers to solar technology
deployment, as well as the actions necessary to overcome them and those responsible for
carrying them out. Barriers can be non-economic, such as institutional, administrative,
permitting and public acceptance obstacles, among others. Or, they can be economic, often
resulting from framework or market design shortcomings that magnify perceived risks for
investors and lenders.
The fourth and final phase of roadmap development covers monitoring its implementation and
establishing a mechanism for regular updating. This is an ongoing activity, with tracking and
monitoring occurring on a regular basis through a variety of indicators. Support mechanisms and
targets should also be revised and adjusted frequently because even proven solar technologies
are still evolving quite rapidly and costs are continuing to fall. If support mechanisms take the
form of a subsidy, they should not be excessively generous at the expense of taxpayers;
meanwhile, targets should be enlarged as costs fall, justifying a greater solar contribution to the
country’s energy needs and economic development.
PAGE | 19
Useful online resources

 IEA: Solar Energy Perspectives (2011): https://webstore.iea.org/solar-energy-perspectives
 IEA: Technology Roadmap: Solar heating and cooling (2012):
https://webstore.iea.org/technology-roadmap-solar-heating-and-cooling
 IEA: Technology Roadmap: Solar Photovoltaic Energy (2014):
https://webstore.iea.org/technology-roadmap-solar-photovoltaic-energy-2014
 IEA: Technology roadmap: Solar thermal electricity (2014):
https://webstore.iea.org/technology-roadmap-solar-thermal-electricity-2014
 IEA: Getting Wind and Sun onto the Grid (2017): https://webstore.iea.org/technology-
roadmap-solar-thermal-electricity-2014
 IEA: Renewable Energy for Industry (2017): https://webstore.iea.org/insights-series-2017-
renewable-energy-for-industry
 IEA: Renewable Heat Policies (2018): https://webstore.iea.org/insights-series-2018-
renewable-heat-policies
 IEA: ”Status of power system transformation 2019” (2019): https://webstore.iea.org/
status-of-power-system-transformation-2019-power-system-flexibility
 IEA Energy Technology Network:
o IEA PVPS TCP publications: http://www.iea-pvps.org/
o IEA SHC TCP publications: https://www.iea-shc.org/
o IEA SolarPaces (Solar Power & Chemical Energy Systems programme) publications:
https://www.solarpaces.org/
 IRENA, IEA and REN21: Renewable Energy Policies in a Time of Transition (2018):
https://www.irena.org/-
/media/Files/IRENA/Agency/Publication/2018/Apr/IRENA_IEA_REN21_Policies_2018.pdf
 ISA: http://www.isolaralliance.org/
 UNDP, Derisking Renewable Energy Investment (2013); DREI: Off-Grid Electrification (2018):
https://www.undp.org/DREI
 World bank group, ESMAP and Solargis, Global solar atlas (2019):
https://globalsolaratlas.info/
PAGE | 20
Solar Energy: Mapping the Road Ahead Introduction
Introduction
About technology roadmaps

The primary goal of a technology roadmap is to highlight and accelerate deployment of a specific
technology or group of technologies. Simply put, a roadmap is a strategy or plan describing the
steps to be taken to achieve stated and agreed goals on a defined schedule. It details the
technical, policy, legal, financial, market and organisational barriers to these goals, and the range
of known solutions to overcome them. Roadmaps can be developed for various levels of
deployment – global, national or regional – and can be sector- or technology-specific for different
time frames.
The evolving process by which a roadmap is created, implemented, monitored and updated is
referred to as roadmapping. The way this process is organised is crucial to achieve the goals it
sets out. An effective roadmapping process maximises stakeholder engagement in creating the
plan, thereby building consensus and increasing the likelihood that those involved will implement
the roadmap’s priorities and together seek early solutions to anticipated barriers.
From a geographical prospective, not only the central government should be involved, but also
regional authorities and city mayors.
From a sectoral prospective, it is all the more important that many stakeholders beyond energy
ministries are involved in this process : agriculture, housing, transportation, health, education
and finance among others.
All these stakeholders are critical to a strong roll-out of solar technologies.
Ideally, a roadmap is a dynamic document that incorporates metrics to monitor progress in

meeting its stated goals, and is flexible enough to be updated as the market, technology and
policy context evolves.
About this guide

Solar Energy: Mapping the Road Ahead aims to provide government, industry, civil society and
community stakeholders with the methodology and tools to successfully plan and implement
national and regional solar energy roadmaps. This guide’s holistic approach encompasses all solar
technologies – solar photovoltaic (PV) electricity, concentrating solar power (CSP, or solar
thermal electricity [STE]), solar heating and cooling (SHC), and even solar fuels – and addresses
synergies and trade-offs to consider when formulating a comprehensive solar strategy.
Applications include utility-scale PV and CSP power generation; distributed on- and off-grid
electricity generation; solar thermal water/space heating and cooling; solar heat for industry; and
solar fuels.
Designed for decision makers in developing and emerging as well as developed economies, this
guide does not cover every aspect of solar energy technology, policy or deployment. Rather, it
aims to provide a comprehensive list of steps and concerns for each phase of solar energy
roadmapping and deployment. Selected case studies encapsulate the wide array of existing
applications, and discussions of deployment drivers and barriers are accompanied by realistic
PAGE | 21
recommendations for actions, tools and useful information. Importantly, this guide also
addresses resource variability and key energy access concerns.
Solar Energy: Mapping the Road Ahead is a collaborative effort of the International Energy Agency
(IEA) and the International Solar Alliance (ISA) to build on experience to mobilise investments for
extensive solar energy deployment worldwide. While based on new material collected
specifically for this guide, it also draws on previous research: i) the IEA’s generic roadmap
methodology manual, Energy Technology Roadmaps: A Guide to Development and
Implementation (2014a); ii) IEA (2011), Solar Energy Perspectives, which provides insights on solar
resources and their uses according to the three types of technologies; iii) the IEA Technology
Roadmaps Solar Heating and Cooling (2012), Solar Photovoltaic Energy (2014b) and Solar Thermal
Electricity (2014c); and iv) solar technology reports by IEA Technology Collaboration Programmes
(TCPs): Photovoltaic Power Systems (Photovoltaic Power Systems TCP), Concentrated Solar
Power and Fuels (SolarPACES) and Solar Heating and Cooling (Solar Heating and Cooling TCP).
Guide structure and roadmapping process

This guide is arranged around the four key stages of the roadmapping process (IEA, 2014):
 Phase 1: Planning and preparation

 Phase 2: Visioning
 Phase 3: Roadmap development
 Phase 4: Implementation, monitoring and revision.
Figure 8. The roadmap development process
Note: Dotted lines indicate optional steps, depending on available capabilities and resources.
Source: Adapted from IEA (2014a), Energy Technology Roadmaps.
IEA roadmap development involves two streams of activities (analysis and consensus-building) in four
phases: planning, visioning, development and implementation.
Figure 8 illustrates the two streams of activities that make up roadmap development: those that
focus on analysis (in orange) and those centred on decision-making and consensus-building (in
blue). Sound data and analysis should support expert judgments to establish current baseline
PAGE | 22
conditions so that milestones and performance targets can be determined and technology
pathways laid out to achieve the roadmap’s goals. This process should be followed for effective
solar energy roadmap development for any country or region.
About solar energy technologies

Many different technologies with a broad range of applications can be used for solar energy
conversion. Although solar technologies can deliver heat and be used for cooling, lighting,
electricity generation and fuel production, Solar Energy: Mapping the Road Ahead focuses on
using solar energy to produce heat (for heating/cooling) and power.
This report therefore covers solar PV, SHC and CSP technologies; applications such as water
treatment, seawater desalination and solar fuel production are briefly discussed but are not the
focus.
Assessing solar resource potential

Before examining the different technologies, this section details the main characteristics that
determine a geographic area’s solar energy potential. Some recent initiatives have begun to
collect solar resource maps and can be a good starting point for roadmap development.
Solar irradiation consists of direct and diffuse radiation. Direct (or beam) radiation experienced
as ‘sunshine’ comes directly from the sun’s disk, whereas the diffuse radiation experienced as
‘daylight’ comes from numerous directions. Because solar resources vary daily and seasonally, it
is important to consider the extent to which resource availability matches heat and power
demand variations, as their correspondence will determine the type of facility required and can
signal possible difficulties in deploying solar energy technologies to satisfy energy needs.
Global horizontal irradiance (GHI), or global irradiance on horizontal surfaces, measures the
density of solar resources available per surface area, but various other measures of the resource
also need to be taken into account, depending on the technology to be deployed.
PAGE | 23
Figure 9. Global horizontal irradiation
Source: World Bank Group, ESMAP and Solargis (2019), Global Solar Atlas, http://globalsolaratlas.info.
Vast regions with rising energy needs receive immense amounts of solar irradiation, but
opportunities to use solar energy are increasing even for regions with less solar resources.
Solar resources are highly available in Europe and Russia, but are often even better in the
Americas, Africa, the Middle East, Australia, India, and most of China and other Asian countries
– the regions where energy demand is expected to rise the most in upcoming decades (Figure 9).
Some of these economies could even deploy additional solar energy capacity to export electricity
to neighbouring countries, or hydrogen-rich fuels and feedstocks to more remote regions.
Solar photovoltaics
PV systems directly convert solar energy (both direct and indirect) into electricity. The basic
building block of a PV system is the PV cell, which is a semiconductor device that converts solar
energy into direct-current (DC) electricity. PV cells are interconnected to form a PV module,
typically with a capacity of 290 watts (W) to almost 400 W. PV modules and additional
application-dependent system components (e.g. inverters, batteries, electrical components and
mounting systems) combine to form a PV system. PV systems are highly modular, i.e. modules
can be linked together to provide a few watts to hundreds of megawatts (MW) of power (IEA,
2014b).
Commercial PV modules are usually divided into two broad categories: wafer-based silicon cells
(c-Si) and thin films. The latter, usually based on cadmium telluride (CdTe) or copper-indium-
(gallium)-selenide (CIS or CIGS), accounted for 3% of cell production in 2017 (IEA PVPS TCP,
2018).
Silicon cells are usually sliced from ingots or castings of highly purified silicon. The manufacturing
process creates a charge-separating junction, deposits passivation layers and an anti-reflective
coating, and adds metal contacts. Cells are grouped into modules with transparent glass for the
front, a weatherproof material for the back and often a surrounding frame. The modules are then
combined to form strings, arrays and systems.
PAGE | 24
There are two main types of c-Si wafers and cells: multi-silicon and mono-silicon. The first used
to be more affordable and the second more efficient, but recently the cost of mono-silicon cells
has fallen rapidly and they are expected to dominate the market soon. Whether mono- or multi-
silicon, bifacial cells have quickly captured 10% of the overall PV market and may eventually
dominate sales. Able to capture light on both front and back sides, they deliver greater output if
they are installed in a highly reflective environment. Vertically mounted on a north-south axis,
they provide a bit less energy on a daily or yearly basis, but with maximum power during the
morning and afternoon and less during noontime, which could be relevant for some applications
and complementary to the usual plant installations. This vertical mounting makes also the arrays
less sensitive to dust.
PV technology can be used for on- and off-grid applications from less than 1 W to gigawatts. Grid-
connected systems require inverters to transform DC power into alternating current (AC).
Balance-of-system (BOS) equipment includes inverters, transformers, wiring and monitoring
material, and structural components for installing modules on rooftops or building facades,
above parking lots or agricultural fields, on the ground or floating on water bodies. Installations
can be fixed or track the sun on one axis (for non- or low-concentrating systems). Two-axis
systems, necessary for concentrating PV (CPV) systems, have become exceptional together with
CPV systems themselves. A tilt, often close to the latitude minus 10 degrees, maximises output,
especially for high latitudes (Figure 10).
Figure 10. Photovoltaic electricity output
Notes: This map illustrates estimated output of fixed-tilt PV panels facing the equator. kWh/kWp = kilowatt hour per kilowatt peak.
PV system capacities range from watts to gigawatts and can be installed for a wide variety of on- and
off-grid applications.
PAGE | 25
PV applications are usually grouped into four segments with distinct markets and drivers:
• residential systems (typically of up to 20 kW on individual buildings/dwellings)

• commercial systems (typically of up to a few MW for commercial and public buildings,
schools, hospitals, warehouses and factories, often on rooftops and carpark shades, as
well as above crops, greenhouses or pastures)
• utility-scale systems
• off-grid applications of various sizes, from several watts for initial energy services to
mini-grid applications with battery backup, or hybrid designs that complement diesel
generators.
PV modules usually face the equator, with the tilt determined primarily by latitude, but it can also
be adjusted to adapt to the ratio of diffuse vs. direct irradiance, or for economic reasons. The tilt
tends to equalise electrical outputs despite differing solar resource abundance among regions.
However, a growing proportion of utility-scale plants are using one-axis trackers to augment
output, with or without a tilt.
Solar thermal technologies

Solar light can be captured and transformed by a variety of technologies and utilised as heat in many
applications. Although the most widespread technologies are non-concentrating ones,
concentrating technologies can provide higher-grade heat for many industrial processes and
chemical reactions, as well as offer more cost-effective heat storage options. The most mature
technology, the solar domestic hot water system, was first deployed on a large scale in the 1960s.
The range of solar thermal collector designs is wide, but they all have a number of components
in common: an absorber that collects incoming solar radiation; a circuit through which the heat
transfer fluid flows; and housing that reduces heat losses to the environment and protects the
collector from degradation.
Collectors are commonly distinguished as either flat-plate or evacuated-tube. Flat-plate

collectors have a shallow box housing comprising a casing (aluminium, steel, plastic or sometimes
wood), insulation material to reduce thermal losses from the back of the collector, and a
transparent solar glass (low-iron type, possibly with anti-reflection features), whereas the
housing of an evacuated-tube collector is a glass vacuum tube, so heat losses to the environment
are low. In addition, flat-plate evacuated solar thermal collectors have also been commercialised
recently. Some collectors incorporate low-level concentration devices called compound
parabolic concentrators (CPCs).
Solar air heating systems capture energy from the sun and use it to heat air. More broadly,
passive solar buildings are designed to maximise free solar irradiation during periods of heat
demand and keep it out when the weather is warm; one popular use is home frost protection.
Solar air heating systems can also be used for process heat applications (e.g. for crop-drying) and
in buildings for space heating and air conditioning.
Thermal storage enables the use of solar thermal technologies. It usually takes the form of
sensible heat storage, often in water for low-temperature heat but also in molten salts (as in CSP
plants) or concrete for higher temperatures (in industrial applications). Latent heat storage uses
the phase-change properties of a material, for example using water/ice to store cold in
commercial displays and possibly air conditioning systems. Sorption and thermochemical heat
storage systems may have higher efficiencies but are not yet widely used.
PAGE | 26
Concentrating solar technologies focus sunlight from a large aperture onto a small area by
means of lenses or mirrors, allowing high-temperature heat to be used effectively with limited
losses. Low-concentration collectors can remain stationery and therefore require minimal space,
whereas high-concentration collectors or collecting systems (e.g. heliostats and central receiver
systems) need to track the sun with precision on one or two axes. So far, high-concentration
technologies have been used mainly to produce electricity (see below), but they can also be used
in heat applications.
Solar thermal applications for buildings

Solar thermal systems for building applications are of two main types: thermosiphon (natural
circulation) and pumped (forced circulation) (Figure 11). Thermosiphon systems, common in
frost-free climates, rely on the principle that heated liquids are lighter than cooler ones to
circulate heat transfer fluid to heat storage. This avoids the need for pumping and the associated
costs, but it means that the heat storage device must be placed on the roof above the collector,
so its size is limited by its weight. Although pumped circulation systems allow the collector and
heat storage device to be separated (so that storage can be inside the dwelling), they are more
complicated because they require pumps and a control system to optimise operations.
Figure 11. Individual solar thermosiphon system (left) and pumped circulation system (right)
Source: Dr. Valentin Energiesoftware GmbH, reprinted in IEA (2012), Technology Roadmap: Solar Heating and Cooling.
Designs for solar water heating use either natural circulation or a pumping system.
Solar thermal systems in buildings can be used either for domestic hot water production or for a
combination of hot water and space heating. They can be part of a more complex heating,
ventilation and cooling (HVAC) system, which in turn is part of the larger system of the building
itself. Technologies that help integrate solar heating and cooling into HVAC and building systems
are essential to the widespread deployment of solar heating and cooling systems.
PAGE | 27
Box 4. Solar Cooling

Although solar cooling systems have traditionally been thermally driven, sharp drops in the price
of PV electricity have made PV-driven air conditioners competitive with conventional solar
cooling. This is especially the case for small and medium-sized systems, for which the cost of
installing a solar heat-powered system can be high.
Daily space cooling load and solar PV input profile
Note: MWh = megawatt hour.
Source: IEA (2018a), The Future of Cooling.
Some solar cooling technologies such as desiccant cooling can maximise comfort by also
managing humidity levels (recent research has revealed how humidity aggravates the dangers of
heat waves for humans [Russo, Sillmann and Sterl, 2017]). Outside of the summer period, solar
thermal systems can be used for purposes other than cooling, such as domestic hot water
production and space heating.
Although seasonal and daily solar irradiance largely coincides well with cooling demand in
buildings, the thermal inertia of buildings causes cooling demand to remain high long after sunset.
While individual solar thermal cooling systems must therefore have some thermal storage (mostly
as cold storage) to cover this time period, electric chillers do not. At the system level, however,
cold storage in air conditioning systems – a feature that too few companies are marketing – could
prompt higher grid penetration of solar PV electricity. As well as their energy efficiency,
governments should consider regulating the capacity of these systems to store cold.
As solar thermal cooling is still in the early stages of market development, costs need to be
reduced through further development and deployment. A standardised, effective and simplified
range of technologies needs to be developed – particularly for single- and multi-family dwellings
– to make solar cooling competitive with conventional and supported renewable technologies,
enabling widespread deployment. Training, qualification, quality assurance and system
certification procedures are also needed to stimulate the market by inspiring consumer
confidence.
Source: Mugnier and Jakob (2012), Keeping cool with the sun.
PAGE | 28
Individual domestic hot water systems are generally relatively small, with a collector size of
2 square metres (m2) to 6 m2 and storage of 150 litres (L) to 300 L. Domestic solar hot water
systems can be designed to cover from 30% of hot water demand to almost 100% , depending on
collector area, storage capacity and climate.
Solar heating systems for combined domestic hot water and space heating (called
combisystems) use essentially the same collectors as solar water heaters but are mainly pumped
(forced circulation) systems. The solar combisystem has a larger collector area and generally
larger storage to accommodate space heating needs. In a typical single-family home in a mid-
European climate, such a system can reduce fossil fuel consumption by 25% to 30%.
Solar thermal systems are also used for heating and cooling in large-scale applications for district
heating, multifamily dwellings and other large buildings (hotels, hospitals, dormitories, etc.), or
in block heating plants. These systems, which can have from tens to hundreds of square metres
of collectors, are widely used in some European markets (Austria, France and Denmark). Solar
energy can be an attractive, low-cost source of heat for district heating systems, for which typical
working temperatures range from 30 degrees Celsius (°C) to around 100°C for water storage.
Unglazed water collectors for swimming pool heating are an affordable technology that
increases the collector fluid temperature by 10°C to 20°C above ambient temperature. In the
United States, Canada and Australia, they are the dominant application of solar thermal
technology (IEA SHC TCP, 2019).
Finally, one emerging concept uses solar thermal collectors to support heat pumps. Heat pumps
can be used for space heating, water heating or both (reversible heat pumps provide heating and
cooling). As heat pumps move calories from a cold medium (a building’s surroundings) to a
warmer one (a building’s interior), the useful energy they deliver is several times that of the
energy input.
Using a solar collector to moderately raise the temperature from which a heat pump provides a
further lift can be very effective: instead of each system working alone, combining them
minimises the solar collector’s thermal losses and improves the performance of the heat pump
(Del Amo et al., 2019)
Solar thermal applications for industry

Solar thermal systems can be used to meet a portion of process heat needs at temperatures
below 120°C (such as for washing, leaching, cooking, drying, preheating boiler feed water and
space heating in industrial buildings). These processes are common in such industry subsectors
as transport equipment, machinery, mining and quarrying, food and tobacco, and textiles and
leather. At the end of 2018, at least 741 plants were using solar heat for industrial processes
worldwide, with over 100 added in 2017-18 alone.
Similar to buildings, the solar thermal technologies used in industry in this temperature range are
typically flat-plate or evacuated collectors, although non-tracking CPCs are sometimes used to
obtain temperatures of up to 200°C. For solar crop-drying – important in developing countries –
much simpler collectors can be used, such as perforated roof panels through which air is drawn
via small openings and then ducted to feed the dryers.
For medium- and high-temperature applications, sun-tracking concentrating solar technologies

are needed, although their use is restricted to areas with good direct normal irradiance (DNI). DNI
is much more affected by clouds and aerosols than global irradiance is. In humid equatorial areas,
PAGE | 29
the atmosphere scatters the sun’s rays. High DNI is therefore found in hot, dry regions that have
reliably clear skies and low aerosol optical depths (a measure of the extinction of solar beams by
dust and haze), which are typical in subtropical latitudes from 15° to 40° north or south
(Figure 12). (At higher latitudes, weather patterns frequently produce cloudy conditions.) DNI is
also significantly higher at higher elevations, where absorption and scattering of sunlight due to
aerosols is normally much lower. Thus, the most favourable areas for CSP resources are North
Africa, southern Africa, the Middle East, north-western India, the south-western United States,
northern Mexico, Peru, Chile, western China and Australia. Other regions, such as southern
Europe and central Asia, may also have some CSP plant potential.
Several large-scale concentrating solar thermal plants are being built in Oman, Kuwait and
California, entirely enclosed in standard agricultural greenhouses that protect them from dust
and wind. Light, concave mirrors rotate around simple, fixed tubes, directly generating steam for
enhanced oil recovery (EOR) operations. This technology could also be used to generate
medium- and high-temperature heat in refineries and industries. Emerging technologies include
solar ovens and solar towers with particle receivers to process non-metallic minerals such as
cement materials (IEA, 2017a).
Demand for water desalination is expected to continue growing in regions known for water
shortages – which often have very good solar resources. Water can be desalinated either through
distillation (preferred for highly saline water) or reverse osmosis (IEA, 2011). Distillation usually
requires considerable thermal energy, which could be captured using concentrating solar
technologies (although another distillation technology, mechanical vapour compression, uses
electricity only).
Figure 12. Direct normal irradiance
DNI is the relevant resource for concentrating technologies, whether for high-grade industrial heat or
for electricity generation (CSP).
PAGE | 30
Concentrating solar power

CSP (or STE) plants concentrate solar rays to heat a fluid, which then directly or indirectly runs a
turbine and an electricity generator. Concentrating the sun’s rays reduces heat losses in the
receiver at working temperatures high enough to ensure fair efficiency in turning the heat into
electricity. The predominant CSP technologies are parabolic troughs (PTs) and towers, also
known as central receiver systems (CRSs). Other concepts are linear Fresnel collectors, Scheffler
dishes and parabolic dishes, which may have engines mounted at their foci (Figure 13). These
technologies differ in optical design, receiver shape, nature of the transfer fluid and capacity to
store heat before it is turned into electricity.
Figure 13. Main CSP technologies
Source: IEA (2010), Technology Roadmap: Solar thermal electricity.
Most existing CSP plants are based on trough technology, but the majority of projects under
development now employ tower systems.
Unlike PV systems that use both direct and diffuse irradiation, CSP plants use only direct. Plus,
due to constant heat losses in the solar field, they need a minimum amount of daily direct
irradiance to deliver electricity. Their use is therefore limited to geographic areas that have a
high DNI rating, and at least one full year of on-the-ground DNI measurement is advised when
CSP projects are being considered.
Their capability to integrate thermal storage is an important feature of CSP plants, and some
of them also have fuel-power backup capacity. Thus, CSP technology offers dispatchable,
flexible electricity production capacity to utilities and grid operators while also enabling
effective management of a greater share of variable energy from other renewable sources (e.g.
PV and wind power).
CSP electricity costs more than PV electricity – and as costs are expected to continue dropping
for both, this relationship is not expected to change. However, CSP generation is in fact
competing with PV-plus-storage systems and even with peaking power plants such as gas
turbines. The order of preference for these technologies depends on the share of solar
electricity in the power mix and the duration of storage required.
Because there are different ways to configure solar fields, thermal storage systems and
turbines for CSP plants, electrical capacity is not a good indicator of a plant’s importance and
annual output. While the highest capacity factor may lead to the lowest levelised cost of
electricity (LCOE), this is not necessarily the optimal economic configuration. If the
remuneration of the electricity from a CSP plant reflects its value for the power system at all
PAGE | 31
times, it may be beneficial to shift most of the production from midday and the second part of
the night to the late-evening and early-morning peak hours (Figure 14).
Figure 14. Conceptual daily energy mix with PV and CSP, medium term (left) and long term (right)
The amount of CSP in the energy mix will increase as PV saturates daytime production and power
systems approach full decarbonisation.
Enabling technologies and system integration

Wind and solar PV capacity have increased very rapidly in many countries as a result of supportive
policies and dramatic drops in technology costs. By the end of 2017, these technologies –
collectively referred to as variable renewable energy (VRE) – had attained double-digit shares of
annual electricity generation in 15 countries.
Figure 15. VRE shares in total electricity generation by region, 2018
Source: IEA (2019a), Power System Transformation 2019.
As most countries are just beginning to deploy solar energy, its variability is fairly easy to
accommodate; the majority of suggested measures therefore aim to facilitate further deployment.
PAGE | 32
System integration challenges emerge gradually as more VRE enters the power system. Figure
15 illustrates current VRE shares in the power mixes of selected countries and regions, while
Figure 16 presents the six phases of VRE integration and the four pillars of flexibility: power
plants, grids, demand-side response (DSR) and storage. In the first phase of integration, VRE
capacity has no noticeable impact on the system, as VRE output variations are insignificant
compared with variations in power demand. Some impacts appear in the second phase, but they
can be easily managed by upgrades to operational practices.
Figure 16. The six phases of VRE integration and the four pillars of flexibility
VRE integration requires using all dimensions of flexibility, of which storage is only one.
The first significant integration challenges appear in the third phase, in which power systems
must become flexible enough to adequately respond to supply-demand balance variability within
minutes to hours. Utilities must therefore develop procedures to address these uncertainties:
interconnections and DSR (initially involving industries, but eventually residences and electric
vehicles) are the primary solutions, as well as maximising the flexibility of existing hydro and
thermal power plants. In areas with significant PV penetration, the most challenging time of the
day will be late afternoon, when the sun is setting and electricity demand tends to peak. Issues
may arise from the minimum running times and rapid ramp-up rates required of thermal power
plants, illustrated by the daily demand ‘duck curve’ of net solar PV production (Figure 17).
Battery storage at various levels of the grid, including behind meters, may become more useful
as its costs plummet to the point of making it a competitive solution to meet peak power
demand. More transparency and incentives for markets to balance their own profiles would
prompt existing assets to maximise their flexibility.
If DNI is high enough, introducing CSP plants is particularly beneficial because they can increase
the share of solar energy in the power mix at the same time as raising system flexibility (with
thermal storage) and stability (through the rotating inertia of turbines and generators). CSP
plants with built-in thermal storage can also provide grid storage and avoid curtailment of PV and
PAGE | 33
wind power generation at relatively low power-to-power efficiency, which is compensated for by
low investment costs of additional resistors. Pumped-storage hydropower plants, or higher
hydropower plant capacities, may offer similar flexibility and stability. In Africa and elsewhere,
hydropower plants along rivers could be divided into twin dams or reservoirs with pumped
storage between them (Nombre et al., 2019).
In the fourth phase of VRE integration, power system stability problems may appear. In the few
countries already at this stage, system operators are contemplating the use of synthetic inertia
(fast frequency response [i.e. very rapid responses to frequency deviations] and/or grid-forming
converters) from solar and wind power. Experience has shown that technical grid codes should
be updated before phase four is reached to ensure system resilience.
Figure 17. California’s ‘duck curve’ as PV electricity shares expand
Source: California Independent System Operator (2016), What the Duck Curve Tells Us.
High PV electricity penetration requires greater power system flexibility.
In the final phases of integration, seasonal imbalances may complicate the integration of very
large shares of solar and wind power, with risks of shortages during weeks with low sun and wind
and large surpluses at times of high electricity generation and low demand. In addition to further
developing the flexible electrification of end-use sectors such as buildings, industry and
transport, other options to boost decarbonisation of the overall energy mix and provide seasonal
storage of renewable energy are power-to-gas and power-to-liquid technologies (IEA, 2017a;
2019b). Hydrogen and ammonia (which is easier to ship and store) may be particularly useful in
the power sector, as their production in regions with excellent solar and wind resources may soon
prove cost-effective (Armijo and Philibert, 2019). This could give rise to a novel global energy
trade.
Although they are easily manageable, the first phases of integration would strongly benefit from
close policy-maker attention, as demonstrated by the positive and less-positive experiences of
leading VRE countries. Attention should focus on grid connection codes, adequate forecasting of
solar PV and wind plant output, and on managing the interface between high- and low-voltage
grids. Moreover, steps must be taken to adapt renewable energy deployment to the needs of the
PAGE | 34
wider power system, not only the reverse. This relates especially to the complementarities of
technologies that have different output profiles and to the localisation of new plants, but it may
also affect plant design. All these points, further detailed in Getting Wind and Sun onto the Grid
(IEA, 2017b) should be considered during roadmapping.
Box 5. The importance of the cost of capital for solar projects

Solar technology costs have dropped drastically in recent years, especially for solar PV. Another
factor that has helped reduce the LCOE in many countries is the reduction of investment risk.
Perceived risk is expressed by the weighted average cost of capital (WACC), composed of interest
on bank loans and expected investment returns for equity investors (who use their own money).
The figure below reveals the importance of investment risk, depicting the LCOE as the sum of
capital expenditures, operations and maintenance (O&M) costs, and the cost of capital (its share
is represented on the right axis). With a WACC higher than 9%, the costs of capital account for
over half the kWh cost. This is because the running costs for PV are very low, and up-front
investments and financing conditions matter more than for many other electricity-generating
technologies, especially fossil fuel-based ones.
In a comparison of two projects with similar system costs, O&M expenses and solar resources but
different WACCs (5% vs. 15%), the latter country’s solar electricity costs are twice as high. The
WACC, which is often overlooked, is important because most of the expenditures for building and
operating a PV plant occur upfront, before the plant delivers its first kWh.
WACCs can vary considerably, even for mature, low-risk technologies, depending on the country,
policy framework and level of risk perceived by investors and banks. This is why, even though
subsidies are no longer required for solar technologies in many cases, governments and regulators
have an obligation to establish a risk-mitigating regulatory framework that delivers sufficient
certainty relative to returns on investment.
Share of financing costs in the LCOE of solar PV

Note: Assumptions are: capex of USD 1/W; annual operational expenditures 2% of capex; 25-year lifetime; 1 800 full-load hours.
PAGE | 35
Market overview and trends

Solar PV
Record-level PV capacity growth has been headlining renewable energy news in recent years, as
prices have fallen drastically since 2010 – by four-fifths for modules, and by almost two-thirds for
residential systems (IEA, 2018c). Cumulative installed capacity increased at an average rate of
47% per year during the past ten years, and in 2017 , almost 100 gigawatts (GW) of new PV
capacity was installed in roughly 110 countries. In 2018, new additions remained slightly below
100 GW while it is reaching 115 GW in 2019, raising the total cumulative capacity to 609 GW by
year end.
In the IEA’s main case forecast, total installed PV capacity reaches almost 1 terawatt (TW), i.e.
1 000 GW, by 2023, or already by 2022 in the accelerated case, which would bring it by 2024 to
about 1 375 GW (IEA, 2019c). Distributed applications make up almost half of PV capacity growth
until 2024, with commercial and large-scale industrial projects accounting for 70%, residential
systems for another 28% and off-grid installations for 2% (Figure 18).
Figure 18. Global solar PV annual additions by segment, 2013-24

180
Accelerated
GW
160
140
Off-grid PV
120
100
PV Residential
80
60
PV
40 Commercial
20
PV Utility
0
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Source: IEA (2019c), Renewables 2019.
Total installed PV capacity is expected to exceed 1 TW by 2023.
Box 6. Floating solar PV
A floating solar PV system is an array of solar panels on a structure that floats on a body of water,
placed most often on artificial lakes and water reservoirs. Projects on open water are more
challenging due to greater project design complexity and exposure to rough waters. The
combination of hydropower and floating solar PV technologies is important, and several projects
are under development, mostly in China.
The first floating solar PV plant was commissioned in 2007 in Japan, and the first commercial
site was completed in 2008 in the United States. The plant was deployed on an artificial water
PAGE | 36
reservoir to leave scarce land available for agricultural production. In 2013, the first plant with a
capacity greater than 1 megawatt (MW) was completed, and by 2018 several projects in China
had reached 100 MW and 150 MW.
The floating solar PV segment grew exponentially from 10 MW in 2014 to 1.1 gigawatts (GW) in
2018, and global potential is estimated at around 400 GW, equivalent to total PV capacity at the
end of 2017.
Floating solar PV projects can be particularly suitable in countries with limited land availability and
high population density. Placing floating PV plants on water reservoirs limits water evaporation,
saving it for drinking, irrigation and/or power generation. As most floating projects are deployed
on water reservoirs, irrigation ponds and industrial basins, the technology can benefit from being
located close to demand centres.
Moreover, placing floating PV installations on hydropower reservoirs takes direct advantage of

the existing electricity infrastructure. Hydropower can smooth out variations in solar output and
thus limit PV impacts on the grid.
Floating PV projects usually cost more than ground-mounted installations due to additional
expenditures for floaters and more resilient electric components, but the extra cost is made up for
by their superior performance (thanks to module cooling), and lower connection costs when
installed on hydropower reservoirs.
As floating PV deployment has so far been limited, there are currently no clear, cohesive policies
or regulatory approaches for its installation. Each project application is therefore treated on an
ad-hoc basis, most often categorised as ground-mounted PV. Because solar PV costs have already
dropped significantly and economies of scale will eventually cause the costs of floating
installations to fall as well, floating PV is expected to become competitive without the help of
major remuneration policies. Immediate policy and regulation focus should therefore be on
overcoming barriers to initial deployment; permitting processes must also be developed to
address the environmental considerations of placing plants on water reservoirs. Only a handful of
countries have clear pricing policies for floating projects, and they are often included in local feed-
in tariff policies.
Source: World Bank Group, ESMAP and SERIS (2018), Where Sun Meets Water.
Off-grid solar PV applications

Historically, grid electrification has usually been the most cost-effective method to provide
reliable electricity services. However, distances between off-grid communities and the nearest
network points, the density of the off-grid population, future demographic trends and the
financial health of the transmission companies must all be considered and can delay grid
strengthening or extension – and may prevent it altogether if costs are prohibitively high.
Owing to significant cost reductions as well as private sector and government initiatives, off-grid
solar PV applications have begun to bridge the electrification gap in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
Mini-grids as well as industrial, agricultural and commercial applications and solar home systems
(SHSs) can provide an immediate solution for initial or improved electricity access for households,
small businesses, farms and industries (Figure 19).
PAGE | 37
Figure 19. Installed PV capacity in sub-Saharan Africa, 2014-23
Source: Adapted from IEA (2018b), Renewables 2018.
The falling costs of solar applications, new business models and a strong need for electricity services
in sub-Saharan Africa are driving on- and off-grid PV growth.
Solar water-pumping, used for irrigating crops and watering livestock, is a particularly important
application for farmers in many countries. Among the countries that have deployment
programmes, Morocco and India rely on significant government subsidies. In India, 1.75 million
stand-alone solar pumps have been planned, as well as the solarisation of 1 million grid-
connected pumps.
Solar Home Systems (SHSs) are PV systems that have a capacity in the 100 W range and are
installed in off-grid residential dwellings and equipped with a battery for lighting and for
powering various appliances for several hours per day. Operated under new business models such
as ‘pay as you go’, SHSs that entered the market just in 2017 initiated electricity access for an
estimated 6 million people. In Bangladesh alone, 12 million people have already gained access to
electricity through SHSs.
Larger off-grid solar energy systems are often used for either primary electricity or for backup
power during the brownouts and blackouts that occur frequently in developing countries. These
systems can generate electricity in an off-grid mode for industrial applications such as mining
activities and telecom towers, or for commercial purposes such as agriculture, hotels, hospitals
and schools.
Mini-grids are stand-alone, off-grid solar PV systems that provide electricity to villages or
communities; the number of connected dwellings can vary. Two business cases are usually
encountered (or faced ?) : 1) the grid is already existing, supplied by a diesel genset. Adding some
PV generation directly spares fossil fuels expenses or helps in increasing the number of operating
hours. 2) the grid does not exist yet. Then the total investment cost is much higher and balancing
the budget without specific subsidies becomes a real issue.
PAGE | 38
Box 7. Off-grid solar appliances

The private sector’s market-led solar appliance revolution of recent years resulted from the ability
of a single solar PV panel to supply DC electricity to a distinct solar appliance. Appliances such as
portable lanterns, fixed LEDs, phone chargers, fans, TVs, pumps, fridges, vaccine coolers, laptops,
rice-cookers, etc., can therefore be operated anywhere on electricity from sunlight.
Owing to continuous technological innovation, these appliances require much less electricity than
ordinary alternating-current ones. An increasing number of energy-efficient appliances can be
powered by small solar panels, which minimises costs, and many also have batteries so that they
can be used at night. Panel and battery costs, which currently make up 60% of the total cost of an
appliance, are declining quickly.
Solar thermal heating technology

The market for solar heating technologies grew substantially up to 2013, especially in China
(Figure 20), and continuous slowdown in the Chinese market is the main reason for declining
gross capacity additions globally since 2013. In Europe, market growth has been slower since the
2008 financial crisis and subsequent economic slowdown (particularly in the construction sector),
with average annual decreases of 4% between 2009 and 2017; in 2018 however the market grew
by 8.4% (Observ’ER, 2019). India and the Middle East as well as some other emerging economies,
market growth were more even.
Figure 20. Gross solar thermal capacity additions, 2008-17 (left), and estimated consumption
growth 2018-23 (right)
Source: IEA (2018b), Renewables 2018.
The shrinking Chinese market is still the world leader for solar thermal heating, but European
markets appear to have stabilised and some emerging economies have demonstrated market
growth.
Despite the global slowdown in additions, cumulative solar thermal capacity increased 3.5% year-
on-year to reach 472 gigawatts thermal (GWth) in 2017, one-fifth more than total installed solar
PV capacity. Solar thermal installations – mainly domestic hot water systems for single-family
PAGE | 39
homes and large domestic hot water systems, followed by swimming pool heating – produced an
estimated 384 TWh of thermal energy in 2017.
While individual solar water heating systems dominate the global market, in several countries
(especially Denmark) the installation of large-scale solar thermal plants connected to district
heating systems or large buildings has been expanding. In 2017, 15 large-scale systems
(30.4 megawatts thermal [MWth] of capacity) were added worldwide and roughly 300 large-scale
(>350 kilowatts thermal [kWth]) solar thermal systems were in operation, with a total capacity of
1 140 MWth.
2017-18 was also a record year for solar heating in industrial processes (SHIP), with 124 projects
in 17 countries adding over 130 MWth (a 46% increase), led by the first 100-MWth phase of the
Miraah project for EOR in Oman and followed by developments in India, China, Mexico and
Afghanistan. This brings cumulative capacity to almost 567 MWth across 741 projects.
Nonetheless, SHIP remains only a fragment of the global solar thermal market, accounting for
0.4% of additions in 2017 and 0.1% of cumulative thermal capacity (Weiss and Spörk-Dür, 2019).
Concentrating solar power

Growth in the CSP industry has been more modest. Policy changes and PV cost reductions led to
complete halts in the former leading markets of Spain (in 2013) and the United States (in 2015).
But the geographic distribution of CSP has spread to new countries, including in the Middle East
and Africa (Figure 21). Market prices finally seem to be falling, with recent announcements
(including the USD 73/MWh for the United Arab Emirates’ 700-MW CSP project) indicating
significant cost reduction potential. Furthermore, new technologies are reaching commercial
maturity and new concepts are emerging.
Figure 21. Forecast of CSP capacity by region (left), and of generation by technology (right)
As the United States and the European Union have not been deploying CSP since 2015, Morocco,
South Africa and China are responsible for recent market growth. Built-in thermal storage has
become essential.
CSP capacity had expanded to 5.6 GW by 2018, with the majority installed by Spain and the
United States before 2014. From 2018 to 2023, however, global CSP capacity is expected to
increase by another 4 GW, mostly in China and the Middle East–North Africa region, almost all
with significant thermal storage capabilities.
PAGE | 40
Recent policy trends

There is a strong link between policy implementation and renewable technology deployment.
Policy mechanisms supporting renewables have expanded significantly in recent years in many
countries and have also evolved in type and complexity. While this section presents only a short
summary, more detailed information is offered below in the sections on roadmapping phases
and in the Annex.
Targets are essential to guide and accelerate a country’s renewable energy deployment. They
can be adopted at all administrative levels and along various timelines, supporting either total
renewable energy production/consumption or just specific technologies and sectors. Although
target-setting for renewables has spread rapidly, renewable policies are uneven, with targeted
deployment levels for power, transport and heating and cooling varying considerably.
In 2010, 61 countries had some form of support mechanism for renewables in the power sector,
while at the same time roughly 30 countries had support policies targeting the transport sector
and heating and cooling. Policies for renewable power continued to dominate in 2017 (121
countries) while those for other sectors still lagged behind.
Policies supporting renewables in the power sector are the most evolved because they have
been the most applied across countries: substantial policy-making know-how has therefore
been acquired and the efficiency of certain policies has been proven. Historically,
feed-in-tariffs and premiums have been the policies of choice to initiate the deployment of
both large- and small-scale renewables, as well as net metering in most of the United States
and some other countries for small rooftop projects (under net metering, energy injected into
the grid is valued at the same rate as electricity withdrawn from the grid). Feed-in tariff
mechanisms proved successful in attracting private investment because they guarantee
remuneration, grid access and dispatch priority, and they also provide long-term contracts.
As deployment accelerated, costs fell and technologies matured, governments began to adopt
auctions to further reduce costs more quickly. Plus, auctions also shift the task of price-finding
from governments to market forces when conditions are right, while allowing governments to
retain control over capacity volumes coming online (Figure 22). It is therefore expected that
fewer and fewer administrations will set remuneration levels for renewables projects in
upcoming years. The auction mechanism usually refer to the “least-cost” bid. Some countries
(e.g. China, France) have introduced the “best bid”, including additional technical and
environmental criteria.
PAGE | 41
Figure 22. Remuneration-setting for utility-scale renewable projects
Remuneration for small PV projects (with definitions of size differing widely among countries)
are, however, still usually set administratively, but the number of projects and cumulative
capacities that can benefit are not well defined. Following Germany’s example, several countries
are progressively reducing remuneration for new-build projects, depending on the pace of
deployment. France and India have both instituted auctions for mid-sized projects, such as large
rooftop or parking lot PV systems for industrial plants, data centres, warehouses and shopping
malls. In addition, numerous countries are now developing specific arrangements to promote
self-consumption (or ‘prosumption’) of PV electricity.
Because the heating and cooling sector is complex and fragmented, effective policy making is
challenging. Policies for renewable heat are less widespread than for renewable electricity: while
121 countries had renewable power policies in place in 2017, only 52 had policies for heat. Policy
approaches differ depending on whether the policy is aimed at heat demand or supply, buildings
or industries, and individual or commercial customers; it also depends whether heating or cooling
is targeted. Due to this complexity, a range of policies such as heating and cooling mandates,
grants, soft loans and tax incentives is used to target renewables in the heating sector. Energy
efficiency policies are also of key importance because they can, for example, make a building or
an industrial process more suitable for renewable heat options.
Box 8. Thought for food: Solar cooling and cooking, a Nigerian example
Cooling is also a very important dimension of the agriculture and food and drug delivery chains. A
Nigerian start-up is helping farmers and market vendors raise their profits by using 100% solar-
powered walk-in cold rooms to eliminate food waste. Its ‘ColdHubs’ are made of 120-millimetre
(mm) insulating panels to retain cold, with energy provided by solar panels mounted on the roof.
The energy-efficient mono-block refrigeration units are connected to inverters that enable solar-
powered batteries to supply energy for night cooling. Each ColdHub can contain approximately
three tonnes of perishable food, arranged in at least 150 units of 20-kilogramme (kg) plastic crates
stacked on the floor, and they provide autonomous refrigeration 24 hours a day without grid
connection. The temperature can be adjusted to between 5°C and 15°C, extending the shelf life
of fruits, vegetables and other food by 2 to 21 days.
PAGE | 42
Prior to the introduction of ColdHubs, farms and markets lacked cold storage, causing sellable
food to often be wasted. ColdHub solutions have been eagerly embraced by farmers and
merchants, with those currently in use having reached 100% capacity utilisation. ColdHubs
operate on a simple pay-as-you-store model, with farmers and retailers paying NGN 100
(USD 0.50) to store one crate for one day. Each hub is operated by a manager, who monitors the
loading and unloading of crates and collects the fees.
There are also numerous solutions that use solar energy for cooking, ranging from very
rudimentary devices such as simple insulated boxes with a reflective aluminium sheet directing
sunlight onto a pot for slow cooking, to large community cooking appliances based on Scheffler
dishes, which have had some success in India (IEA, 2011). More recently, solar cooking based on
PV electricity or PV-eCook and induction cooktops has stirred interest. The costs of induction
cooktops and PV panels have dropped dramatically, but battery systems adapted (or adaptable)
to run cooktops are still relatively expensive. Hence, PV-eCook technology hardly seems
accessible for the lowest-income households that remain exposed to the problems associated
with transitioning to cleaner cooking in developing countries. Whether to give people still relying
on traditional biomass access to clean cooking or to facilitate the removal of subsidies for fuels
such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), governments should be more attentive to developments
in solar cooking and consider conducting social and technical experiments before launching large
dissemination programmes. India has already completed two small-scale pilots of PV-cooking
systems and is contemplating a pilot scheme involving 100 000 households or more.
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PAGE | 44
Solar Energy: Mapping the Road Ahead Phase 1: Planning and preparation
Phase 1: Planning and preparation
Highlights of Phase 1: Planning and preparation

The first phase defines the objectives and scope of the roadmap, establishing clear
boundaries (Figure 23). To inform this process, baseline research is conducted
characterising solar technologies in the energy system.
At the beginning of the roadmapping process, a steering group is established and the
stakeholders are defined.
Baseline research covers information on the overall energy system, including the policy
and regulatory environment, as well as the living standard, the capacity to pay and the
wider economic framework that will influence the roadmap’s scope and coverage.
Information is collected on solar resource availability, the status of the different solar
technologies, the existing supply chain and other factors to determine the potential role of
each technology.
Duration: 2-6 months.
Resources: research staff, potential travel and infrastructure to conduct interviews.
Meetings: a kick-off meeting of the steering group is recommended.
Figure 23. Planning and preparation phase
During the first phase of development, the roadmap initiative defines the roadmap’s boundaries
and time frame, collects relevant information on the existing framework to provide an overview
and starting point, identifies the range of key stakeholders and establishes the institutional
framework for implementing the roadmap. The IEA recommends the following steps during
Phase 1:
 Ensure commitment: Even the best roadmap needs an audience and committed
participants who will be the driving force for implementation.
PAGE | 45
 Appoint a steering committee: Successful roadmapping requires a small, dedicated

steering committee with the knowledge and authority to make decisions on goals, scope and
boundaries.
 Develop a statement of purpose and scope: It is good practice to begin by developing a
short document that clearly states the roadmap’s purpose, scope and objectives, process and
participants.
 Conduct baseline research: Baseline data development includes a situational analysis of the
key factors affecting the roadmap, such as energy supply and demand, economic growth,
purchasing power, technology commercialisation and readiness, infrastructure
development and needs, institutional capacities, and energy and environmental policies and
regulations.
 Select stakeholders and experts: Engaging diverse areas of expertise and involvement early
in the process can better inform roadmap development and increase the likelihood of
commitment to the resulting document. The participation of network operators is
particularly important for successful photovoltaic (PV) deployment.
Further information on each step can be found in IEA (2014).
The remainder of this section covers guiding questions for baseline research, analysing the
technological situation for solar technologies, and identifying and selecting stakeholders and
experts.
Conducting baseline research

Baseline research should analyse the current situation to identify key factors that may influence
the technology roadmap – covering the energy system, the institutional landscape, and the policy
and regulatory framework. Table 1 outlines the basic questions that should be answered in
baseline research.
Table 1. Key questions for baseline research
Area Main questions
 Energy demand baseline: What is the current overall energy demand and what
future developments are expected?
 Energy supply baseline: How much energy is produced, imported and exported?
General  How much solar energy technology has been deployed in the country/region?
 Does the country have a long-term energy strategy/plan?
 Does the county have carbon pricing in place or, on the contrary, are fossil fuels
subsidised?
 Which government institutions deal with energy?

Institutional context  How are state-owned enterprises and private sector companies involved in the
energy sector?
 Does the country/region have specific plans or targets for solar electricity and solar
heating and cooling?
 Does the country/region have a technology roadmap for any solar technologies or
sectors?
Existing energy policy
 Are the rules and regulations for developing energy projects comprehensive and
framework
do they create a level-playing field?
 Are there regulations in place that may indirectly hinder the deployment of solar
technologies? What was the original motivation behind these policies, and is it
possible to adapt them?
PAGE | 46
Area Main questions
 Is information on power system specifics available, e.g. on overall demand and by

different consumers? Location of demand? Grid and power capacity?
 What is known about sector/customer-specific load profiles?
 How is the power sector regulated?
Electricity  How are generation, system operations, transmission, distribution, retailing/sales
and consumption structured?
 Is regulation suitable for corporate procurement (bilateral PPAs)?
 To what extent do demand variations match those of solar availability (on all time
scales)?
 What is known about customer-specific demand profiles?
 Does the region/country allow energy service companies (ESCOs)?
 Do other business models for solar heat exist?
Heating and cooling  Do policy makers understand specific heat needs at the policy level and do they
recognise the lack of renewable heat options for consumers?
 Can the infrastructure be adapted to integrate solar heat, e.g. through district
heating networks?
A list of the types of data needed for this first phase should be created, including but not limited
to statistics, reports and expert knowledge. Preliminary assessments of general data quality and
quantification of some metrics can be done through desktop research (of vendor sites, trade
associations and ministries) and interviews with industry experts, academics, consultants,
industry associations and government officials. However, as even this level of data collection can
often be difficult for regions lacking this information, a possible initial activity may be to develop
a more robust data collection and assessment system.
Technology situation analysis

The planning and preparation phase involves examining the technological, market and policy
situation specific to the solar technologies covered by the roadmap (Table 2). In addition to this
broad analysis, a comprehensive understanding of solar potential and resources must be
developed.
Table 2. Key questions for solar technology situation assessment
Area Main questions
• Are there significant solar resources that can be exploited?

• To what extent have the solar resources already been assessed (e.g. is there
high-quality information on the global horizontal, optimally tilted, direct normal
and diffuse solar radiation)?
Solar resource availability
• Is available information based on satellite data and also backed up by local
measurements?
• What information is available regarding the quality of the atmosphere near
ground level (i.e. wind, dust, temperature)?
PAGE | 47
Area Main questions
• Does accurate information on technological performance (within or outside the

geographic location) already exist?
• Based on the resource assessment, which solar technologies may best serve the
energy needs of the country?
• Are there prospects to export solar electricity or fuels? Is there information on
local costs and cost development potential?
• Are there environmental concerns to consider in formulating the roadmap? Are
Technology
accurate life-cycle assessments available?
• Which end-of-life factors need to be considered (e.g. operations at end of
economic lifetime, repowering, recycling and waste minimisation and
elimination)?
• What is the potential of the various technologies, and what are the integration
issues?
• Are there any possible links to other technology areas?
• Who are the customers and what is the market potential?
• Are prices reflective of costs? Is there a time-based tariff structure?
• How much experience does the country/region have in developing solar
projects?
• Is information on the value chain (e.g. manufacturers, suppliers and distributors)
available?
• Are there any existing studies/forecasts for the market/energy sector?
Markets • Does the solar strategy target only the country’s own energy needs or is it also
export-oriented?
• Does the country want to create a local industry?
• What are the key socioeconomic priorities that might be supported by the
deployment of solar technologies?
• What are the strengths of the existing workforce in the country/region?
• Is initiating research, development and demonstration (RD&D) capabilities a
motivation?
• What is the existing legal and regulatory framework for solar technologies?
• Do national/regional policy makers have a comprehensive energy strategy?
• Are there policy goals for specific energy technologies and end-use sectors at
the national, regional and local levels?
• Does the country/region have specific plans or targets for modernising its
electricity grids, integrating renewables, decarbonising the power sector, etc.?
• What is the current and projected future energy mix? Do national/regional policy
makers have renewable energy supply targets? Do they include solar heat and
power?
• Does the country/region already have a technology roadmap or strategy for
bioenergy? What is the time frame?
• Are the transport and distribution networks/authorities facilitating the
connection of new solar electric capacities at different voltage levels?
Public policy and regulation
• Are all the relevant government ministries and agencies involved and
co-operating with one another? Is there enough personnel within key bodies to
implement national/regional targets? Are responsibilities clearly assigned?
• Are there mandates for incorporating solar heat, solar electricity, or limited net
energy consumption in new buildings?
• Is PV self-consumption supported for households? For businesses?
• What is the attitude of the electricity retailers or utilities concerning self-
consumption and injection of PV power into distribution networks? Is it allowed?
Is it remunerated?
• What is the attitude of the banking sector with respect to supporting investment
in solar projects at all scales?
• Are businesses in various sectors (extractive and manufacturing industries, data
centres, retailers, etc.) proactive in securing power purchase agreements for
renewable electricity and heat?
PAGE | 48
Identifying solar stakeholders

Because the range of essential solar energy stakeholders is wide in most countries, not only is it
critical to identify them early in the process, it is also important to consider how they should be
involved in the roadmapping process (Table 3).
Table 3. Potential stakeholders in solar technology roadmap development
• Institutional • Ministries in charge of energy, finance,

environment, industry, etc.
• Independent energy market authorities
• Land-use planning decision makers
• Permitting authorities, courts
• Industry groups and associations
• Industry • Network owners and power system operators

• Project developers, engineering companies
• Installers, operations and maintenance (O&M)
companies
• Landowners, co-operatives
• Others, including providers of enabling
technologies, e.g. battery manufacturers,
architecture/construction/engineering companies,
creators of the built environment for solar
technology integration
• Finance • Investors, e.g. development banks, private banks,

venture capitalists, pensions funds, hedge funds,
insurance companies
• Consumers and prosumers • Interest groups, e.g. environmental non-

governmental organisations, consumer
organisations, research institutes, universities
• Residential electricity consumers
• Civil society, community groups and locally
affected populations
Once all stakeholders have been identified, a communications and grouping system should be
devised according to level of stakeholder involvement. A useful management tool for classifying
stakeholders by decreasing level of engagement is the RACI (Responsible, Authorised, Consulted
and Informed) scheme. Experience has shown that some stakeholders (e.g. network operators)
may need to be persuaded to participate at the highest level of engagement (i.e. Responsible) for
successful deployment of distributed PV.
The next phase of roadmap development is to create a common vision.
PAGE | 49
Box 9. Dispersion facilitates variable solar integration

The aggregated output of dispersed solar and wind plants varies less than that of individual units.
For example, a single cloud at midday will cause the output of a solar PV module beneath it to fall
from maximum to 20-30% of peak production. If all modules are in the same place, the output of
the solar portfolio will drop equivalently. From the system operator’s perspective, this is highly
undesirable, as a large amount of alternative capacity is needed to manage the loss, with only very
short times allowed for ramping/starting up (and for shutting down when the cloud moves). In
contrast, if power plants are well dispersed, fluctuations are gentler and slower. The figure on the
left illustrates this effect in South Africa: the paler lines show the steeply varying outputs of solar
PV plants in 5x5-kilometre (km) clusters, compared with the aggregated output of all solar plants
across the country, which smooths into the bell curve expected on a cloudless day. The graphs
below show the same result in Italy.
PAGE | 50
Solar Energy: Mapping the Road Ahead Phase 2: Visioning
Phase 2: Visioning
Highlights of Phase 2: Visioning

The goal of the second phase is to define the roadmap’s mission statement and time frame,
as well as short-, medium- and long-term targets and objectives (Figure 24).
A country/region establishes its vision for solar energy development at this stage, and
decides what it wants to achieve by developing solar energy along a specific timeline. It
also examines options to meet these goals, based on Phase-1 analyses of energy scenarios.
Conducting a senior-level vision workshop to identify long-term goals and objectives is

recommended.
Resources: research staff, infrastructure to conduct interviews.
Meetings: senior-level workshop to establish long-term vision, potential travel or

exchange with research organisation developing energy scenarios.
Figure 24. Visioning phase
The second phase of roadmapping involves developing a vision for solar technology deployment
in the country or region within a specified timeframe. The vision takes the baseline research into
account and builds on stakeholder consultations. The output should be a clear statement of the
desired outcome of solar deployment following a predetermined pathway.
The vision should be elaborated based on an assessment of the potential of the different solar
technologies and the ambitions of the stakeholders, built on the modelling and scenario analyses
of Stage 1.
Other related activities should also be taken into account, such as Nationally Determined
Contribution (NDC) pledges submitted to the United Nations’ 21st Conference of the Parties
(COP21) in line with the Paris Climate Agreement.
PAGE | 51
As the visioning stage of roadmap development focuses on defining the pathway(s) and
milestones for solar technology deployment, the section below discusses the main drivers and
target-setting for expanding the use of solar energy.
Drivers of solar energy expansion

A clear statement of the motivations for using solar energy is essential to develop the vision and
long-term goals of the roadmap. The drivers and impetus for solar energy development can vary
significantly across countries and regions and influence the resulting strategy and portfolio of
technologies. Based on research, expert consultations and reviews undertaken for this
publication, the major drivers of solar technology deployment can be grouped into four
categories (Table 4).
Table 4. Typical drivers of solar technology deployment
Categories Possible drivers Expected benefits
Better health, education, rural

Universal access to electricity and rural
development and quality of life.
electrification
Energy access Possibly lower energy service expenditures,
Access to sustainable, reliable and affordable
development of profitable activities
energy
towards economic development
Reduced reliance on imported fossil fuels Increased independence/ higher share of

energy demand met domestically
Diversified energy supply mix
Improved balance of payments
Energy security Greater dispatchable renewable capacity
Energy supply diversification, with positive
Decarbonised end-use sectors
impact on prices and price volatility
Diversified energy supply for heating Relief for constrained infrastructure
Reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions,

Significantly higher indoor air quality
particularly CO2 and methane (CH4)
Environment through clean cooking
Improved air quality and less local
Lower combustion of high-emissions fuels
environmental pollution
Economic growth associated with new

businesses and market for solar energy
services (involving planning, installation
Establishment and expansion of local solar
and maintenance)
energy industry
Possibly lower energy service expenditures
Job creation
Economic Possibly higher disposable income with
Potential trade and exports for solar energy
development and rural development, which can have positive
carriers
employment macroeconomic impacts
Leadership in solar energy research and
Possibly greater export-oriented trade
development
involving solar fuels and solar energy
carriers
Development of a national intellectual
property (IP) and patent base
Each jurisdiction will have unique priorities in developing a solar technology roadmap and will
need to adapt the approach to its particular national or regional context and resources. While
some countries may have assorted drivers for deploying more than one solar technology in
several sectors, others may choose to craft their mission statement around just one or two.
PAGE | 52
Decision makers should remember that including multiple drivers in the roadmap may influence
the targets, data requirements and resource evaluation. Furthermore, a compromise may have
to be found among the various drivers to maximise the overall benefits. A well-studied analysis
of the value of solar energy for the public and private sectors and civil society at large is
instrumental to inform policy and decision makers, especially under tight budgetary constraints.
Also, a study of current and projected energy end uses in the buildings, industry and transport
sectors can help narrow down the focus of the roadmap’s vision. Solar resource assessments and
other baseline and technology research conducted under Phase 1 should not contradict the
decisions and outcome of the visioning phase.
Box 10. Leveraging local capacity for solar energy

Countries are putting increasing value on the socioeconomic benefits that can be gained from
deploying solar technologies. In fact, these benefits can be a key stimulus, closely linked with the
creation of local industry and economic growth. Opportunities for new, local solar technology-
related employment exist throughout the value chain, but a careful examination of which parts of
the value chain can realistically be created domestically should be part of roadmap development.
Human resources required to develop a 50-MW solar PV plant
Note: The manufacturing of modules and inverters is not included.
Source: IRENA (2017a), Renewable Energy Benefits: Leveraging Local Capacity for Solar PV.
In the case of solar PV, creating the capability to produce silicon and PV cells and modules locally
and competitively would require significant know-how and economies of scale, which are often
difficult to obtain. Fortunately, job creation and local economic development can be achieved in
other parts of the value chain more easily. Solar heat and – based on experiences in Morocco and
South Africa – concentrating solar power (CSP) are likely more conducive to local employment
creation.
PAGE | 53
Deployment targets
Because countries differ in their energy infrastructures, energy demand profiles and solar
resource accessibility and affordability, their different drivers and policy goals will lead to
prioritisation of different technology options, pathways and deployment targets. Global analyses
such as the IEA’s Sustainable Development Scenario may nevertheless help guide efforts
(Figure 25). Deployment targets should be based on the assessments carried out in Phase 1,
reflecting the viability of the pathways and end uses of the heat, power and (if applicable) solar
fuels designated for domestic and/or international markets.
Clear, realistic targets are an important component of any national or regional roadmap’s guiding
vision. A precise vision and credible goals make it easier to implement a roadmap effectively,
particularly when targets are mandatory rather than aspirational.
Although overall targets can be expressed in terms of capacity, generation or consumption, it is

recommended that they be further disaggregated by sector (power, heat, transport) and
technology or, when applicable, as sub-national targets.
When deployment targets are being formulated, potential synergies or counteractions with
energy efficiency effects should be considered. For instance, if targets to expand solar energy use
are framed as absolute values rather than as shares of energy demand, energy intensity
reductions could actually undermine efforts to cut global energy demand.
Figure 25. PV and CSP generation in the Sustainable Development Scenario

TWh
8000 30%
7000
25%
6000 PV
20% CSP
5000
4000 15% Share of PV
3000 Share of CSP
10%
2000
5%
1000
0 0%
2017 2025 2030 2035 2040
Note: TWh = terawatt hour.
Source: IEA (2018b), World Energy Outlook 2018.
In climate-friendly scenarios, solar electricity provides up to 30% of global electricity.
It should be noted, however, that technological advancement also affects the market penetration
of solar technologies, and while region-specific factors may influence deployment, technological
progress will largely follow global trends. One important aim is to ensure that targets are aligned
with a country’s strategic objectives, such as for energy supply, job creation and rural
development.
PAGE | 54
Solar Energy: Mapping the Road Ahead Phase 3: Roadmap development
Phase 3: Roadmap development
Highlights of Phase 3: Roadmap development

In this phase, implementation barriers are identified, actions to overcome them are
determined and assigned to the appropriate participants, and a draft roadmap document
is produced (Figure 26).
Resources: research staff, infrastructure to conduct interviews.
Meetings: senior-level workshop to establish long-term vision, potential travel/exchange

with research organisation developing energy scenarios.
Figure 26. Roadmap development
Once a vision has been established, the goal of the third phase is to prepare and review a draft
roadmap. Its content is usually discussed and determined through a number of expert workshops
aimed at identifying barriers to solar deployment within the country or region, and possible
actions that decision makers could assign to overcome them. Expert judgement is useful for
setting a realistic timeline and roadmap implementation milestones in collaboration with the
responsible stakeholders.
This section explores possible barriers that can hinder the deployment of solar technologies and
provides an overview of action options and information sources available to policy and decision
makers. While many barriers are common across regions, specific ones may apply in particular
contexts. Furthermore, many barriers are technology-specific, i.e. different technology options
(such as PV, solar heating and cooling [SHC] or CSP) have different solar resource requirements
and different implications for connecting to the electricity grid or for system configuration.
Decision makers should therefore tailor responses and policy measures to the existing conditions.
While every effort has been made to identify a comprehensive set of potential barriers and
responsive actions, no list can be exhaustive. Barrier types and action options fall into several
categories:
PAGE | 55
 Solar technology, project delivery and workforce barriers

 Barriers to integrating solar projects into the energy system
 Considerations for the enabling framework
 The role of international collaboration
 Setting the timeline and milestones.
Each subsection below offers a short introduction to the category and a table listing common
barriers and actions to try to overcome them. Although the occurrence of barriers and their
associated actions vary for each country, certain recurring elements are identified and
summarised in Table 5 through 8. Issues are described, as well as a number of strategies or action
options.
Solar technology, project delivery and workforce

barriers
This guide outlines the various technologies, and their applications and sizes, available to use
solar energy for power, heat and solar fuels. However, market uptake is often restricted by a lack
of information about the range of technology options, how they perform under local conditions
and how to operate them efficiently within the overall energy system.
Efficiency in project delivery influences project success and the future of the sector. Smooth
project execution – from project development and construction right up to commissioning – is
therefore a priority. Possible obstacles in this category are also linked with those in most other
categories (e.g. integration into the energy system and the enabling framework, including
regulatory, administrative, social acceptance and financing barriers).
The high quality of a workforce can enable growth in a sector, but because of the long lead times
involved, developing the workforce should be a priority. Participation in regional or international
efforts to harmonise standards, certifications and technology development could make quicker
development possible (see Phase 4 for further details).
Table 5. Overview of solar technology, project delivery and workforce barriers
Barrier Instances Action options
Collaborate with international initiatives on

solar resource assessment.
Initiate public programme for national wind
Inadequate Solar resource information is not available at
atlas, including long-term solar resource
resource the quality needed to develop a detailed solar
data and time-series data if possible
information strategy.
Make all existing meteorological and wind
resource assessment data accessible and
provide national platform for data sharing.
PAGE | 56
Lack of information
on technology Lack of knowledge about the availability and Awareness-raising and training programmes
readiness and performance of renewable technologies for installers, civil engineers and architects
applicability
Develop higher-education curricula and

Shortage of local experts in solar technologies training to meet the whole set of skill
for all sectors, which may limit the choice of requirements and professional profiles of
Shortage of projects and numbers of installations that can solar energy technologies.
qualified workforce developed Encourage technology and knowledge
High cost of O&M due to local lack of qualified exchange with mature solar technologies.
personnel Support public- and private-sector
investment in local capacity-building.
Technologies and components are not Participate in international collaborations
Information standardised, leading to perceived risks for on standards.
asymmetry/ deployment/ performance. Build capacity through international
shortage Lack of knowledge about technological collaborations for solar energy
options available internationally technologies.
Barriers to integrating solar projects into the

energy system
As each individual project is part of the overall energy infrastructure and system, understanding
the intersections and addressing integration issues can help make a roadmap a success.
While centralised production remains the core of most energy systems worldwide, the use of
distributed, variable renewable energy (VRE) generation systems (including solar PV) is
increasing. As greater shares of VRE are integrated into energy systems, the uncertainty of
output from these sources means that networks are challenged with effectively balancing supply
and demand.
Because CSP plants with thermal storage provide dispatchable electricity, they can adapt to the
daily net-load patterns created by higher shares of VRE (especially PV), depending on their
operating schedule and storage volume.
In the future, sector-coupling (linking the end-use sectors through electrification) is one of the
strategies that may achieve deep decarbonisation of the energy system; this will depend on
enabling digitalisation and demand-side management. Also, using solar energy as an energy
carrier for the transport sector or as a trade commodity is an important way to introduce very
high levels of renewables into the overall energy system.
PAGE | 57
Box 11. When the power sector is not credit-worthy: India’s UDAY scheme
Many developing countries are keen to attract private investment for utility-scale solar energy
generation. These are typically large solar farms that are connected to the grid, and the buyer
of the electricity needs to be the national electricity company.
Difficulties arise when the distribution company is not credit-worthy, or when it incurs huge
losses. When the off-taker is a bankrupt distribution company (or ‘discom’), it cannot be
counted on for timely payments over a typical contract period of 20 to 25 years. The solar
project may therefore never materialise because of a lack of financing and no willing lenders.
Even if someone is willing to lend enough for the project to go ahead, the cost of financing will
be much higher than if the off-taker were a good credit risk. So, the health of the electricity
distribution company is a very important ingredient for the growth of the solar energy sector in
that country.
In India in November 2015, the federal government undertook a very bold nationwide reform
of state-owned distribution companies that were losing massive amounts of money. The
programme was referred to as Ujjwal Discom Assurance Yojana, or UDAY, and it was thought
that one of the many benefits of making the distribution companies viable would be provision
of a solid platform on which the renewables sector could grow, reinforcing the Power For All
initiative.
UDAY had a financial component, to clean up the balance sheets of the over-indebted discoms,
and an operational component, to reduce their Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT&C)
losses. The financial component involved a one-time transfer of 75% of each discom’s debt onto
the books of its respective state, by issuing state government bonds. In exchange for this huge
financial benefit, the discoms had to commit to reduce their AT&C losses to a maximum of 15%
by 2018-19, raise their power tariffs, reduce their reliance on short-term borrowing, and use
operational monitoring indicators. The financial restructuring took place immediately, but
studies show that most operational targets have not yet been met.
Most solar investors are still reluctant to sign power purchase agreements with state discoms
(unless they are among the handful of very well-managed ones). Instead, they agree to sell their
power to federal institutions such as the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) or the
National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC, which is the country’s largest public sector power
generator). Financiers also prefer this as a payment security mechanism, since the likelihood
of being paid is not an issue with these federal agencies. SECI and NTPC then enter into back-
to-back contracts with state discoms to off-load the solar energy.
Electricity networks can be underdeveloped or ageing, particularly in rural areas, restricting the
population’s access to electricity; this lack of infrastructure may also prevent the construction
of large-scale power plants. Solar PV and its modular design that makes it well suited to off-
grid applications – from watt-scale solar home systems to megawatt- size mini-grids – may
provide communities with the energy services that utilities are unable to provide.
In cities or municipalities with existing district heating infrastructure (or in cities being designed
from scratch), solar thermal heat has been demonstrating its capabilities, e.g. in Denmark.
PAGE | 58
Table 6. Overview of energy infrastructure barriers and action options
Infrastructure Insufficient grid capacity; delayed arrival and Make grid planning and extension a priority
obstacles late connection of new projects to grid on policy agenda
Transmission and distribution system Regulate monopoly control to allow access

operator (TSO/DSO) may lack capacity to to independent power producers (IPPs).
enable grid connection (or have no interest)
Regulate system operators to ensure rates
Connection fee may be inappropriate reflect costs.
Grid connection
constraints Point of connection may be disputed among Distinguish connection costs from grid
developers or with transmission owner reinforcement costs and assign
appropriately
Long distance between potential site and grid
node can be a barrier due to costs or existing Ensure transition from legacy vertical utility
rights-of-way providers to service providers
Advocate system operators’ adoption of

state-of-the-art practices, and measures to
progressively deal with greater solar energy
penetration.
Curtailment and
Impact on voltage, frequency and power Improve policy-maker understanding of
other operational
quality and system stability issues to better manage operators’
constraints
concerns.
Revise grid code to include voltage control
and active power control by solar energy
plants
Increase power system flexibility and take

Mismatch with Differences between annual solar availability
other measures depending on the phase of
solar availability and the load curve may be significant.
VRE penetration.
Change in operation due to solar resource Promote new infrastructure that works at
variability lower temperatures.
Solar thermal for Inadaptability of network temperature levels Adopt international best practices to avoid
district heating for efficient solar production common mistakes.
Strong competition from natural gas Integrated urban heating/cooling supply
networks, leading to sub-optimal results planning.
Considerations for the enabling framework

The enabling framework for solar technologies encompasses policy, regulatory and market
structures. While a number of non-economic barriers can be strong determinants of roadmap’s
success, the enabling framework also has a financial dimension that reflects both the situation of
the economy and financial markets as well as investors’ perception of risk concerning solar
energy projects.
Policy, regulatory and market framework barriers

The policy, regulatory and market framework ensures that energy producers can sell their
services and recover their investments. At the same time, these frameworks guarantee the
functioning of the energy system overall and create a level playing field for all participants.
PAGE | 59
Even with costs continuing to fall, government policy remains crucial to attract investment in
renewables, as well as to ensure appropriate market design and reliable and cost-effective
system integration. With greater deployment, technological maturity and competitiveness,
policy instruments and business models are becoming more sophisticated in adapting to
renewables, and many policy approaches are also evolving.
An overview of common policy instruments for deploying renewable energy in general and solar
energy in particular can be found in Renewable Energy Policies in a Time of Transition (IRENA, IEA
and REN21, 2018) as well as the Annex.
Table 7. Overview of policy, regulatory and market framework barriers and action options
‘Stop-and go’ policy approaches and Set up policy frameworks that enable fair
retroactive changes have undermined sharing of risks and benefits among all
Policy and investor confidence. stakeholders.
Regulatory Insufficient transparency or excessive Institute predictable, rule-based
framework complexity of policies and legislations adjustments of financial incentives, e.g.
Strong requirement for ‘local’ procurement dependent on deployment.
Reform national planning rules.

Statutory restrictions apply to site; site has
Land availability/ other economic/landscape value Assign government to broker planning
permissions
building access for Land may have historic value
installation Establish body to resolve disputes
Lack of clarity for rights of roof access
Reform building codes.
Energy pricing that is not cost-reflective Consider whether the design of power,
heat or transport markets needs to be
Subsidies for fossil fuels revised to enhance transparency and foster
Market barriers competition.
Externalities and the failure of costing
methods to include social and environmental Phase out fossil fuel subsidies that create
costs inefficiencies and market distortions.
Revisit ‘must run’ classification of

Ensuring recovery of investment for solar and conventional power plants and consider
non-zero marginal cost facilities according ‘must run’/priority dispatch
Electricity market Curtailment may result from lack of space in status for solar electricity
design the market At much higher shares and in liberalised
Large shares of VRE, e.g. from solar PV, may markets, encourage market reform of
require power market modification exchanges and futures markets, including
design of intraday and balancing markets
Landlords do not invest in solar heat if Introduce ‘solar obligations’ for new-build
Split incentives
benefits accrue to tenants dwellings
Addressing non-economic barriers

Even when economic barriers have been addressed and resolved, a range of non-economic
barriers can disrupt or even prevent the deployment of a specific technology or of renewables
completely. Non-economic barriers are usually not isolated and occur in groups from several
categories, as barriers are closely related.
PAGE | 60
Non-economic barriers can be categorised as:
 Institutional and administrative, including permitting

 Public acceptance, including social awareness
 Environmental
Table 8. Overview of non-economic barriers
Rationalise and align policies at all levels of

Lack of strong, dedicated institutions, lack of
government. Co-ordinate authorities and
clear responsibilities and co-ordination
make sure they all have adequate
among agencies
information for processing applications.
Slow, opaque permitting procedures, often
Establish one-stop shop to streamline
Institutional and due to insufficient capacity to manage
planning processes
administrative applications in a timely fashion
Offer training for developers in application
Developers lack competence in preparing
process
applications
Ensure active co-operation from network
Difficulty in getting projects connected to the
operators by associating them with the
grid
process from the onset.
Educate local population on benefits of

Local opposition prevents construction of new solar electricity (GHG reductions, jobs, etc.)
grid connections, linked to experience with
Public acceptance Consider long-distance high-voltage direct-
planning regulations and public acceptance of
renewable technologies current, and short-distance underground
power lines
Ensure solar energy policy addresses end-

of-life issues; limit soil artificialisation and
Excessive restrictions on soil artificialisation
Environmental visual impacts of all activities (not singling
or visual impacts
out solar deployment); deploy solar on
contaminated soils.
While the combinations and impacts of these barriers are specific to each market, sector and
technology, they are expected to evolve as technologies mature and deployment of renewables
expands. Addressing these non-economic obstacles is therefore just as crucial as tackling high
upfront costs and market barriers.
Administrative barriers can result in long project lead times. Planning delays and restrictions, a
lack of co-ordination among the different authorities, and authorisation delays can all jeopardise
the success of a project. Grid connection delays for newly developed large-scale projects
undermine the investment value, raise financing costs (due to risk elevation) and make the
market uncertain for the future investments. Problems with permitting, land disputes and
postponed grid connection occur regularly in developing countries, for example in the sub-
Saharan Africa region.
Lack of social acceptance of renewable projects – solar PV or otherwise – can occur in both
developing and developed economies, however, and can cause developmental delays that lead
to higher project costs or even project cancellations.
Insufficient information-sharing on the availability of policies and measures to support renewable

energy projects can also slow down deployment. Well-designed information and education
PAGE | 61
campaigns on the benefits, characteristics and performance of renewable technologies can win
social acceptance and unblock deployment.
A lack of effective training and certification programmes for installers and employers working
along the supply chain can also impede or interrupt deployment, particularly in the increasing
number of countries that have a local content requirement.
Financing and economic considerations

Only ten years ago, solar PV was the most expensive electricity-generating technology, except
for certain niche markets (telecom relays, minimum off-grid village electrification), whereas now
it is one of the most affordable. Mass production and technology improvements have drastically
cut investment costs, while policy frameworks and market designs have reduced market risks so
that low-cost financing has been made possible. The cost of solar thermal electricity from CSP
plants has dropped sharply, while the price-competitivity of SHC systems varies widely
depending on market segment and country.
In the case of solar PV, creating the capability to produce silicon and PV cells and modules locally
and competitively would require significant know-how and economies of scale, which are often
difficult to obtain. Fortunately, job creation and local economic development can be achieved in
other parts of the value chain more easily (and CSP and SHC systems are generally thought to be
more conducive to local employment creation).
Access to financing for solar energy technologies is a prerequisite to deployment. Financing costs
directly determine a technology’s viability due to the high upfront capital costs involved, the long
economic lifetimes and the resulting impact of the weighted average cost of capital. Financing
renewable energy projects therefore depends on investor confidence and the availability of
funds. Table 9 summarises some common barriers and action options, but there is a vast body of
research examining how the regional context influences funding availability and specific
financing issues.
Table 9. Overview of financing barriers and action options for solar energy projects
Solar technology’s levelised cost of electricity Reform energy markets to remove

(LCOE) may be uncompetitive relative to inefficient direct and indirect subsidies for
other sources of power. conventional sources of energy.
The levelised cost of heat (LCOH) of solar Institute government intervention to reduce
Investment costs thermal may be uncompetitive relative to cost of loans through grant funding, credit
and economics other sources of heat. guarantees, tax incentives
Solar technologies can compete on a Consider government support for solar
levelised-cost basis, but up-front capital energy in the form of tax incentives, credit
investment costs are too high. guarantees or access to affordable financing.
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Technology risks considered too high by

investors Establish long-term revenue certainty and/or
Lack of previous investment experience in stable government support mechanisms
target countries makes commitments too (e.g. a quota obligation system or tradable
Investor confidence risky certificates).
and perceived risk Introduce hedging instruments for
Instability in the policy and/or regulatory
framework overcoming risks.
Mismatch of currencies for revenue and Index revenue to a currency.
repayment
Establish or mandate a public bank to

Project promoter or developer unable to support investments when private investors
provide equity for project regard the risks as too high.
Investment banks may be unwilling to offer Urge government to support development of
Availability of project financing. domestic or regional bond market in low-
financing carbon goods.
In the buildings sector, those who pay for
energy services may not make the decisions Consider strategies to overcome the ‘owner-
on new supply-side investments. tenant dilemma’, including policy measures
such as renewable heat obligations.
Research, development and demonstration

support
Energy innovation is critical for meeting long-term policy goals. While technological innovation
often occurs rather slowly through incremental adjustments, this linear image oversimplifies the
relationships among the stages. Innovation in the real world is more complex: for instance, even
once a technology has become cost-competitive with relevant alternatives in one country, it may
not be attractive in another and may require early-stage support and further innovation.
A number of solar technologies have recently made tremendous progress owing to research,
development and demonstration (RD&D) efforts as well as economies of scale. Solar
technologies consist of a range of solutions at different stages of market maturity. Direct support
for RD&D (e.g. grants, loans, tax credits) and non-RD&D support for business innovation (e.g.
support for venture capital and assistance in launching entrepreneurial activities) need to be
balanced with targeted policies that foster demand and markets for clean energy (e.g. pricing
mechanisms, public procurement, minimum energy performance standards, energy efficiency
labels and mandatory targets). All national or regional r0admaps for solar technologies should
therefore include opportunities and support for RD&D to further reduce solar technology costs
and improve system performance and reliability.
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Solar Energy: Mapping the Road Ahead Phase 4: Implementation, monitoring and revision
Phase 4: Implementation, monitoring

and revision
The fourth and final phase of roadmap development covers monitoring its implementation and
establishing a revision mechanism (Figure 27). This is an ongoing activity, with tracking and
monitoring occurring on a regular basis.
Figure 27. Implementation, monitoring and revision phase
Setting the timeline and milestones

The stakeholders leading the roadmapping exercise need to consider if and how institutions will
be able to adapt to the roadmap’s identified actions. For example, requiring planning authorities
to accelerate the issuing of permits may take time. The speed with which administrators can
assess tariff applications and modify policies depends on resources: acceleration may not be
possible without the injection of more human resources, or a fundamental redesign of how to
approach the task. Moreover, there may be good reasons for the way the permitting process is
designed, and accelerating it to enable solar energy deployment may impact other policy areas.
Necessary changes may be brought about more quickly, and be less likely to lead to unintended
consequences, if the institutions in question are involved in the roadmapping process from the
outset.
Monitoring roadmap implementation

Setting up a monitoring system to track the progress of roadmap implementation should be
started in the early stages of the roadmapping process. Monitoring is essential to the IEA’s
analytical work to inform policy makers whether current policies and settings are effectively
driving the desired energy transitions, 1 and the monitoring framework can reveal whether the
roadmap needs adjusting in light of experiences gained through its implementation.
Establishing metrics that capture the roadmap’s impact (on the energy mix, the economy,
technology uptake, etc.) is very important, as they provide governments with information about
successes and shortcomings; Table 10 lists potential qualitative and quantitative indicators to
1 For further information, see www.iea.org/tracking/ and www.iea.org/tcep/.
PAGE | 64
track and monitor progress. The monitoring system should ensure comprehensive information
collection while keeping the reporting burden and costs at an acceptable level.
For each indicator, it is useful to identify the stakeholders responsible for monitoring and
reporting, as well for the verification mechanism. Robust data and transparent analysis are
important.
Ideally, project owners should be obligated to report available data (including performance data
when available), and the privacy and confidentiality of all data should be ensured. There is a vast
body of information on data collection – International Recommendations for Energy Statistics
(UNSD 2018) – and on compiling statistics – the Energy Statistics Compilers Manual (UNSD 2016)
– from collaboration between the Oslo Group on Energy Statistics and the Intersecretariat
Working Group on Energy Statistics (InterEnerStat). These may provide practical guidance for
setting up the monitoring framework and data collection.
Table 10. Quantitative and qualitative indicators for monitoring progress
Indicator type Description
Megawatt hours (MWh) generated per annum by technology and application

Share of solar energy (%) in total yearly electricity production by technology and
application
MW capacity installed by technology and application
Share of solar capacity (%) in total installed power capacity by technology and
application
Capacity factors and full-load hours of solar generation (% and number of hours
Solar technology annually)
deployment
Solar thermal capacity (m2 of collector surface and estimated thermal generation or
reduced consumption of alternative fuels)
Curtailment (electricity only): kWh curtailed, hours of curtailment or % of expected
generation
Construction lead times (number of months)
New patents and technical innovations related to solar energy
Public and private R&D expenditures on solar energy
Total solar energy sector investments per year

Value of state-backed investments per year (e.g. via development banks)
Annual spending on public financial incentives
Ratio of public to private investment
Financial
Value of certificates traded per year
Annual cost of support mechanisms (solar energy and all renewable energy)
Domestic investments committed per year
Development in cost of solar technologies by application and/or system size
Number of training workshops organised

Number and success rates of research, development and innovation programmes
Number of useful new institutions created
Processes
Number and effectiveness of awareness-raising campaigns organised
Reduction in lead times for essential permits and licences
Success rates within the permitting processes
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Indicator type Description
Policies defined and adopted

Long-term stability of the policy framework
Policy
Sectoral strategies developed to implement identified milestones
Risk management strategy and implementation
Net jobs created in the domestic solar energy supply chain and annual turnover
Social projects supported
Contribution of solar energy to the GDP
Percentage increase in population connected to electricity grid
Socioeconomic and
Percentage increase in population with access to modern energy services
environmental impacts
Avoided cost of imported fossil fuels
Percentage reduction in carbon intensity of electricity generation
Percentage reduction in carbon intensity of final energy consumption
Avoided GHG emissions per year, particularly CO2
International collaboration
As highlighted earlier in this report, multilateral collaboration can help accelerate roadmap
implementation beyond what would be expected from government and market forces alone, and
it can catalyse cost-effective solutions. There are certain barriers that can prove much more
costly to overcome, and side-effects that cannot be mitigated well, without strong collaborative
approaches, and international partnerships play a key role in facilitating these efforts.
Co-operation and networking can also increase the effectiveness and maximise the impact of
RD&D efforts. Energy technology innovation supported by international collaboration can deliver
more benefits and bolster effectiveness, priority-setting and industry engagement. There are
many models for international collaboration, from bilateral agreements to regional networks and
multilateral forums. Some of these international initiatives are outlined below.
International Solar Alliance

The International Solar Alliance (ISA) is a treaty-based intergovernmental organisation
established by its parties to collectively address key common challenges to scaling up solar
energy in line with their needs. Their goal is to mobilise more than USD 1 trillion for the solar
sector and to develop and deploy over 1 terawatt of solar generation capacity by 2030 in ISA
member countries.
By May 2019, 75 countries had signed and 53 had ratified the Framework Agreement on the
Establishment of the ISA. ISA membership is now open to all UN member countries (ratification
procedure in progress). The ISA aims to directly impact the seventh Sustainable Development
goal (SDG 7: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all) and SDG
13 (Take urgent action to combat climate change) while striking a balance between the two.
The ISA is founded on a strong governance structure of an Assembly and eight committees:
standing; programme; general and legal; finance; and four regional committees. Six task forces,
two working groups and a global ecosystem of partners help the ISA maintain its pace.
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The ISA has launched five programmes to meet its objectives:
• Scaling Solar Application for Agricultural Use
• Affordable Finance at Scale
• Scaling Solar Mini-grids
• Scaling Solar Rooftop
• Scaling Solar in E-mobility and Storage.
It has also initiated two cross-cutting capacity-building programmes to facilitate massive solar
energy deployment in its member countries:
• ISA STAR (on capacity-building, research and entrepreneurship)
• Infopedia (an online solar knowledge repository funded with the support of the
European Commission).
The ISA has a unique business model to facilitate implementation of solar projects in its member
countries. In its past two years of operations, the ISA has taken on the role of an ‘enabler’ by
institutionalising 30 Fellowships from member countries with a premier institution (IIT Delhi) in
its host country, and by training 200 Master Trainers from ISA member countries; of a ‘facilitator’
by obtaining lines of credit worth USD 2 billion from EXIM Bank of India and USD 1.5 billion from
AfD, France, by ensuring MDB investments in solar, and by garnering project preparation
support; of an ‘incubator’ by nurturing initiatives such as Common Risk Mitigation Mechanisms;
and of an ‘accelerator’ by developing tools to aggregate demand for 1 000 MW of solar capacity
and 300 000 solar water pumps.
IEA Technology Collaboration Programmes

Nearly half a century ago, the IEA established the Technology Collaboration Programmes (TCPs)
as a framework for international collaboration on energy technology RD&D, technology analysis
and information sharing. Today, there are three TCPs related to solar technologies:
• the TCP on Photovoltaic Power Systems (PVPS TCP), which conducts a variety of
collaborative projects relevant to solar PV technologies and systems, including cost
reductions, analysis of barriers and raising awareness of the potential of PV electricity.
Further information is available at www.iea-pvps.org
• the TCP on Concentrated Solar Power (SolarPACES TCP), which is a leading

international network of researchers engaged in thermal solar for dispatchable power
and solar chemistry technologies. Among its key activities, Solar PACES TCP has
developed guidelines and supported standards to increase the transparency of the
market and reduce risks associated with project development. More information is
available at www.solarpaces.org
• the TCP on Solar Heating and Cooling (SHC TCP), which works to increase the
deployment rate of solar heating and cooling systems by breaking down the technical
and non-technical barriers and by engaging in research and development of
components, materials and design as well as raising political and public awareness.
More information is available at http://www.iea-shc.org
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International Solar Energy Society

The International Solar Energy Society (ISES) is one of the longest-standing international solar
organisations, with extensive membership worldwide. ISES provides scientific advice to
governments and the public as well as collaborating with the solar industry to inform public
opinion through education and outreach activities. Further information is available at
www.ises.org
European Technology and Innovation Platform

The European Commission has endorsed a number of European Technology and Innovation
Platforms (ETIPs) that bring EU policy makers, industry and research centres together to work on
identified priority innovation topics. ETIPs cover a broad scope of energy technologies, with two
dedicated to solar:
• the ETIP for Photovoltaics (ETIP PV); further information available at http://www.etip-
pv.eu
• the ETIP for Renewable Heating and Cooling (ETIP RHC); further information available
at http://www.rhc-platform.org/
CEM Multilateral Solar and Wind Working Group

The Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) is a high-level global forum where major economies and
forward-leaning countries work together to share best practices and promote policies and
programmes that encourage and facilitate the transition to a global clean-energy economy. The
CEM Multilateral Solar and Wind Working Group strives to promote the accelerated deployment
of solar and wind technologies worldwide. It initially focused on developing a global atlas for solar
and wind energy; a corresponding long-term strategy on joint capacity building; and a report on
economic value-creation effects from renewable energy deployment, including how to measure
these effects and policies to facilitate and optimise them. Further information is available at
http://www.cleanenergyministerial.org/
MI Converting Sunlight Innovation Challenge

Mission Innovation (MI) is a global initiative focused on scaling up RD&D for clean energy
technologies. MI governments have pledged to seek to double their public clean energy RD&D
investments over five years. Under the MI framework, the Converting Sunlight Innovation
Challenge is bringing together stakeholders to exploit the opportunity of using sunlight to
produce carbon-neutral fuels (such as hydrogen) and to develop energy storage chemicals.
Further information is available at http://mission-innovation.net.
Multilateral development banks

The solar strategy of the African Development Bank (AfDB) – part of its climate change action
plan – is explicit in its Second Climate Change Action Plan 2016-2020. 2 Pillar 2 of the Plan is
2 www.afdb.org/fileadmin/uploads/afdb/Documents/Publications/AfricanDevelopmentBankClimate ChangeActionPlan2016-
2020.pdf
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“Promoting mitigation and low-carbon development in Africa”, and the first action item is to
scale up renewable energy investment via the AfDB’s New Deal on Energy for Africa as well as
the African Renewable Energy Initiative (AREI), which is hosted by the AfDB.
One of the items is the USD 10 billion Desert to Power Initiative, for which the AfDB has partnered
with the Green Climate Fund to collaborate on an innovative approach to catalyse solar
investments from both the public and especially the private sector and institutional investors.
This form of blended financing is intended to help fill in shortfalls in capital resources in Africa.
The Initiative aims to develop 10 GW of solar energy across the Sahel region by 2025, which could
provide renewable electricity access to over 250 million people, thereby solving many of the
region’s energy access challenges. By tapping into one of the world’s largest sources of solar
power, this traditionally underdeveloped region could be dramatically transformed.
The World Bank Group’s (WBG’s) strategy is laid out in its Climate Change Action Plan 2016-
2020. 3 Under this plan, the WBG will use multiple instruments to de-risk renewable energy
investments with a cumulative target of adding 20 GW of renewable energy generation. Through
a combination of policies and power system investments, the World Bank will enable a further
10 GW of renewables to be integrated into grids.
The Scaling Solar programme is one of the initiatives that brings together a suite of WBG services
under a single engagement aimed at creating viable markets for large-scale grid-connected solar
power in each client country. The ‘one-stop-shop’ programme aims to make privately funded
grid-connected solar projects operational within two years and at competitive tariffs. When
implemented across multiple countries, the programme will create a new regional market for
solar investment. The package includes: i) Advice to assess the right size and location for solar PV
power plants in a country’s grid; ii) Simple and rapid tendering to ensure strong participation and
competition from committed industry stakeholders; iii) Fully developed templates of bankable
project documents that can eliminate negotiation and speed up financing; iv) Competitive
financing and insurance attached to the tender and available to all bidders, delivering competitive
bidding and ensuring rapid financial closing; and v) Risk management and credit enhancement to
lower financing costs and deliver power at lower tariffs.
The Asian Development Bank’s (ADB’s) strategy to support the solar sector is called ADB
Strategy 2030, 4 issued in July 2018. The document identifies seven operational priority areas, one
of which is “Tackling climate change, building climate and disaster resilience, and enhancing
environmental sustainability”. The document states that the ADB will scale up support in these
areas and will ensure that 75% of its committed operations (on a 3-year rolling average, including
sovereign and non-sovereign operations) will support climate change mitigation and adaptation
by 2030. Climate financing from ADB’s own resources will reach USD 80 billion cumulatively from
2019 to 2030.
The ADB will also expand its private sector operations to one-third of its total operations by 2024,
and will pursue development impact as the key objective of its private sector operations.
In addition, the ADB will catalyse and mobilise financial resources for development. It will
strengthen collaboration with multilateral, bilateral and private sector partners and seek
financing from commercial and concessional sources. It plans to target a substantial increase in
long-term co-financing by 2030, with every USD 1 in financing for its private sector operations
3 https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/24451/K8860.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y
4 www.adb.org/sites/default/files/institutional-document/435391/strategy-2030-main-document.pdf
PAGE | 69
matched by USD 2.50 of long-term co-financing. To catalyse investments, it will use public–
private partnerships, improve the business environment in developing member countries
(DMCs), and enhance DMCs’ domestic resource mobilisation.
References
ADB (Asian Development Bank) (2016), Indonesia: Energy Sector Assessment, Strategy, and Roadmap,
ADB, Mandaluyong City, the Phillipines.
IEA (International Energy Agency) (2018a), Renewables 2018: Analysis and Forecasts to 2023, Market
Report Series, IEA, Paris.
IEA (2018b), World Energy Outlook, IEA, Paris.
IEA (2014), Energy Technology Roadmaps: A Guide to Development and Implementation, IEA, Paris.
IEA (2011), Solar Energy Perspectives, IEA, Paris.
IEA PVPS TCP (Photovoltaic Power Systems Technology Collaboration Programme) (2018), Trends 2018 in
Photovoltaic Applications, IEA PVPS, Paris.
IEA SHC TCP (Solar Heating and Cooling Technology Collaboration Programme) (2019), Solar Heat
Worldwide 2019, IEA SHC, Paris.
IRENA (International Renewable Energy Agency) (2017a), Renewable Energy Benefits: Leveraging Local
Capacity for Solar PV, IRENA, Abu Dhabi.
IRENA (2017b), Renewable Power Generation Costs, IRENA, Abu Dhabi.
IRENA, IEA and REN21 (2018), Renewable Energy Policies in a Time of Transition, IRENA, IEA and REN21,
Abu Dhabi and Paris.
UNSD (United Nations Statistics Division) (2018), International Recommendations for Energy Statistics.
United Nations, New York.
UNSD (2016), Energy Statistics Compilers Manual, United Nations, New York.
World Bank Group, ESMAP and SERIS (2018), Where Sun Meets Water: Floating Solar Market, World Bank,
Washington, DC.
PAGE | 70
Solar Energy: Mapping the Road Ahead Annexes
Annexes
Annex A. Overview of policy instruments to

promote solar uptake
Renewable energy policies and programmes are pivotal for successful deployment, as the right
policy tool and its correct implementation can often be the key to creating a suitable
environment. Efforts to advance the deployment of all types of renewables in the power sector
have therefore been led by government targets and policies. Target-setting, which is often the
first step in policy- and strategy-making for renewables deployment, determines the deployment
objectives for a country, city or region, for specific sectors or for the energy system as a whole.
Targets, which can be set at the national, regional or city level, provide a high-level signal to
various stakeholders to encourage investment in renewable energy, and they also serve as a
foundation for many support policies and measures. Long-term targets that extend several
decades into the future must be supported by mid- and near-term goals to keep deployment in
check and on track. Overall targets can be expressed in terms of capacity, generation or
consumption, and can pertain to all renewable energy resources. However, it is recommended
that countries further disaggregate general targets into sectoral (power, heat and transport) and
technology-level ones.
Solar deployment targets can express goals either as totals (e.g. X gigawatts [GW] of installed
solar capacity by Y year) or in specific terms (a precise amount of utility-scale, distributed PV or
off-grid applications added in the country within a defined period of time). Given the variety of
solar technologies, solar heating targets should also be adopted.
Power sector
Renewable policies for the power sector are extensive, since this is the sector that has received
the most policy-making attention and has had the greatest deployment success thus far. Policies
can be differentiated either by type of measure and whether the targeted project will be installed
on- or off-grid, or by project size and policy category. They can also be categorised as price-
finding mechanisms or net-metering and billing schemes, or as regulatory, fiscal and financial
measures (Figure 28).
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Figure 28. Classification of power sector policies
Regulatory and pricing policies Non-regulatory policies
All
Decentralised renewables for
stakehold Large-scale installations Distributed generation All project sizes
electricity access
ers
Financial and
Quotas and
Administratively Competitively set Administratively fiscal incentives Voluntary
certificates (RPO,
set pricing pricing set pricing Net Grid-arrival (tax incentives, programmes
RPS, renewable Legal provisions Pricing policies
instruments instruments instruments metering/billing policies capital subsidies, (corporate
electricity
(FIT/FIP) (auctions) (FIT/FIP) attractive loans, sourcing)
certificates)
risk mitigation)
Source: IRENA, IEA and REN21 (2018), Renewable Energy Policies in a Time of Transition.
Price-finding mechanisms
Quotas and obligations placed on electricity generators or consumers by a central or state
government mandate that a certain percentage of power be met with renewable electricity. This
mechanism directly translates overall renewable energy targets and shifts the obligation to
generators and consumers. Quotas and obligations usually have medium-term targets (e.g. 10
years ahead) as well as annual targets that gradually increase leading up to the end-year. Quotas
and obligations, which can be technology-disaggregated into specific technology levels, are most
often supported by tradeable certificates.
Tradeable certificates are usually launched to support quotas and obligations and ensure they
are met. Market participants, such as suppliers and generators, receive or buy certificates to meet
the mandatory quotas established for the year. Certificates can be accumulated to meet
obligations and can serve as a trading tool among participants. They are also used in voluntary
markets, traded by private companies to meet their corporate renewable goals.
Feed-in tariffs (FITs) are administratively set tariffs for electricity generated by renewable
energy technologies. Tariff levels differ according to technology, installation size, mounting
system and often location of the installation. Tariffs are assigned in long-term power purchase
agreements (PPAs) signed between the generator and responsible energy regulation body or
electricity off-taker. PPA durations are usually of 12 to 30 years. Historically used in developed
economies to support the deployment of large, medium and small-scale installations, they are
now employed for small-scale installations only. They do, however, continue to be used to
support all sizes of installations in developing economies where access to financing is limited and
investment is riskier overall.
With renewable technology costs falling rapidly, it is challenging for administrators to accurately
assign a price to the power generated. Setting tariffs too high (relative to project costs) can lead
to overpricing – to the disadvantage of taxpayers or ratepayers – but tariffs that are too low fail
to generate investor interest. Furthermore, the volume of new capacity entering the system is
difficult for governments to control.
PAGE | 72
Feed-in premiums (FIPs) are prices added on top of the market price for the electricity produced
and sold into the grid from renewable generators. The idea is to use market prices to lead
developers and operators of renewable capacities to generate more when prices are high, while
still ensuring sufficiently high remuneration to keep financing costs low. FIPs can be either fixed
(i.e. remain at the same level regardless of electricity price) or sliding (i.e. differ depending on
electricity price evolution). Minimums and maximums are often set on the premium or on total
remuneration (electricity price + premium). As with FITs, FIPs are contracted for long periods.
A renewable auction is a selection process designed to procure new renewable electricity

capacity (or generation volumes) competitively, in which a long-term PPA is granted to a
qualified bidder based on a financial offer, and in certain cases, on additional criteria (e.g. the
bidder’s financial health, bank guarantees received, and previous experience in developing and
operating renewable energy plants). Auctions are a price-discovery tool that takes advantage of
competitive forces, shifting the burden away from the administrator. Auctions are also an
excellent volume-control mechanism, but their design must be carefully tailored to each
country’s context. Measures to guarantee investor interest must be implemented, but rules for
taking part must also be carefully planned to prevent the participation of unsuitable bidders who
could later fail to deliver their allotted capacity.
Auctions can be either open to all renewable technologies, wherein all projects compete with one
another, or limited to one specific technology, for example solar PV. PPAs can then be structured
to incentivise production in some locations more than in others, or at certain times more than
others, to reflect the needs of the power system and the economy.
In auctions, bidders are invited to compete for a portion of the capacity up for auction (the
minimum capacity size is usually specified in the auction rules), while during tenders bidders
must bid on the entirety of the sought-after capacity.
Selected bidders are granted long-term PPAs, usually of up to 20 or 25 years depending on the
country, project and technology procured. In effect, auctions are a price-finding mechanism for
granting contracts similar to the way FITs and FIPs do.
Renewable energy auctions are most suitable for procuring utility-scale projects. Large
companies are most likely to participate, be eligible for participation and win the PPA contracts.
The auctions environment is difficult for smaller companies to participate in, so there is a risk that
competition will, in effect, be limited to several large companies that will dominate the results
and cut the smaller entities out of the market.
Upon announcement of the winning bids, developers turn to financial institutions to secure loans,
then return to the regulator or the off-taker to sign the PPA. Countries usually set time limits and
penalties for late delivery of contracted projects.
Net metering and billing are measures that promote self-consumption of electricity produced
from renewable projects, and they are most often used to support the uptake of distributed solar
PV installations for either residential or commercial use. This measure allows installation owners
to reduce or eliminate the variable-charge portion of their electricity bills. In a net metering
scheme, compensation is in energy terms (i.e. credited in kilowatt hours [kWh]), and the credit
can be applied to offset electricity consumption within the current billing cycle (e.g. one month),
or often in future billing cycles as well. In net billing, the compensation is monetary (i.e. credited
in monetary units) (IEA PVPS, 2016). Under a net billing scheme, a distributed generation (DG)
system owner can consume electricity generated by the DG system in real time and export any
excess to the utility’s grid. In this way, net billing is akin to net metering; however, banking
PAGE | 73
kilowatt hours within a billing cycle to offset future consumption is not allowed under net billing.
Instead, all net energy exports are metered and credited at a predetermined selling rate the
moment they are injected into the grid (IRENA, IEA and REN21, 2018).
Regulatory measures
Contracts for FITs, FIPs and auctions are usually paired with a guaranteed priority of dispatch. This
rule guarantees the developer the entire generation will be dispatched and generate revenue at the
price set in the PPA. Alternatively, curtailment can be compensated at a different remuneration
level.
Streamlined permitting processes make it easier to apply for and receive permitting for project
installation and grid connection.
Financial and fiscal incentives are made available to reduce upfront capital costs and to improve
access to more affordable financing. Financial and fiscal measures such as capital grants, rebates,
soft financing and various types of tax discounts or tax waivers can be implemented together and
with other measures that support renewables deployment, offering a range of policy support for
renewable investment in the country and creating a positive investment environment. These types
of measures can be easily amended and applied to non-power sectors, and they are often
integrated into energy efficiency policies and programmes.
Capital grants are usually distributed by local governments to assist with the high upfront
investment costs of project development. Grants can be used to support a specific technology in a
targeted market (e.g. residential or commercial solar PV), and their amounts are based on
installation size, type of project owner (individual, private company, community or other) and
technology type (e.g. solar PV or bioenergy burner). They and can be set as a share of the initial cost
or as a specific amount per installation. Often capped at a certain level (e.g. 40% of the initial cost
but no more than USD 2 500 per installation) to limit spending on one particular support policy,
grants can also be distributed by utilities or non-profit organisations to fund a portion of feasibility
studies, demonstration projects or business development in a niche market.
Soft loans are provided and supported by national and local governments and are distributed by
environmental, national or partnered commercial banks to targeted recipients for the development
of high-capital-cost projects (such as solar panel installations on top of residential, commercial or
agricultural buildings). Loan amounts, which are usually capped for each project based on
previously set specifications, are lent at a preferential (i.e. lower) interest rate, and the loan
repayment period is often longer than usual to reduce the repayment burden. In some cases, the
first repayment instalment can even be postponed (e.g. the borrower may be allowed to begin
paying back the loan 12-16 months after the plant has been installed).
Tax discounts, waivers and credits are the most widely used policy instruments globally, as they
can be applied to projects and installations of any size, and in areas that are not connected to the
grid. In 2017, more than 100 countries offered some form of tax incentive for renewable technology
deployment (IRENA, IEA and REN21, 2018). Tax incentives can be adopted alone or in combination
with other policy measures such as capital grants and soft loans to help overcome the economic
barriers and high initial investment costs of purchasing a renewable energy installation. Support can
be given as a waiver or reduction of import tax on equipment, or as a reduction in value-added tax
(VAT) or income tax owed on revenue gained from the power or energy generated. Some countries
(such as the United States) have also introduced tradeable tax credits: for example, a wind farm
operator who generates USD 100 worth of tax deductions can sell these deductions to companies
that can then use them to reduce their amount of tax owing (IEA, 2011).
PAGE | 74
Heating sector
The heating and cooling sector is complex and fragmented, and generally less well understood
than the electricity sector. Its complexity makes effective policy making challenging. Demand for
thermal energy in buildings varies greatly based on climate, building envelope efficiency,
occupancy, occupant behaviour and many other factors. Further, there is a range of heating and
cooling requirements for a multitude of industry processes. On the supply side, many different
space and water heating options are available, involving many stakeholders – from large,
multinational heating equipment manufacturers to small, local installers. Fuels also vary, and the
scale of heat production ranges from large combined heat and power plants to small, open fires.
Renewables-based heating and cooling technologies face multiple barriers when competing with
incumbent (mainly fossil fuel-based) options (IRENA, IEA and REN21, 2018).
Much more effort is needed at the policy level in a larger number of countries. Approaches to
renewable heat policies will have to vary among countries to reflect their different circumstances
(e.g. in building stock, industrial heat demand and resource potential) and specific barriers.
However, while there is no one-size-fits-all solution, all countries should set targets for
renewables in the heating and cooling sector and develop strategies to achieve them, coupled
with measures for energy efficiency (IRENA, IEA and REN21, 2018).
Various policy tools already employed to support renewables growth in the power sector can also
be adjusted and applied to renewables in the heat sector, especially targets, capital grants, soft
loans, tax discounts and waivers.
Heating mandates and quotas are often implemented through building codes. Mandates are
the most common type of policy tool used around the globe to support renewables in heat.
Regulator mandates work by specifying that certain types of buildings (newbuild or refurbished;
residential or commercial, etc.) meet a certain portion of heating consumption through
renewable technologies such as solar water heaters or heat pumps. Mandates therefore provide
great deployment certainty. However, while the increase of newbuilds is specific to each country,
the refurbishment of existing floor area happens only every several decades, so the pace of
expansion for renewable heat in buildings is slow. In 2017, just over 50 countries had some form
of policy support in place for renewables in heat, and 22 countries had mandates.
Heat generation-based incentives are similar to FITs in that they provide structured, long-term
support, but they do not, however, help diminish the high upfront costs of the investment. Most
often used for installing renewable heat generators in district heating infrastructure, heat
generation-based incentives are rarely adopted.
Carbon or energy taxes are placed on fossil fuel-based heat generators, which indirectly impacts
renewable heat technologies. They provide important price signals and reduce externalities, but
design and implementation challenges remain, especially in contexts in which energy-intensive
industries are subject to strong international competition and may therefore request
exemptions.
Countries also have the option of implementing bans on fossil fuel heating options, which can
be very effective, provided other suitable heat alternatives are available and accessible for small
and large investors alike. The observance of bans and switching to desirable technologies must
be strictly enforced by the legislator for this measure to be effective.
PAGE | 75
References
IEA (International Energy Agency) (2011), Deploying Renewables 2011: Best and Future Policy Practice,
IEA, Paris.
IEA PVPS TCP (Photovoltaic Power Systems Technology Collaboration Programme) (2016), Self-
Consumption Policies, www.iea-pvps.org
IRENA (International Renewable Energy Agency), IEA and REN21 (2018), Renewable Energy Policies in a
Time of Transition, IRENA, IEA and REN21, Abu Dhabi and Paris.
PAGE | 76
Annex B. Acronyms and abbreviations

Acronyms and abbreviations
AC alternating current
ADB Asian Development Bank
AfDB African Development Bank
AREI African Renewable Energy Initiative
AT&C Aggregate Technical and Commercial (losses)
BOS balance of system
c-Si crystalline silicon
CAPEX capital expenditures
CdTe cadmium telluride
CEM Clean Energy Ministerial
CH4 methane
CIGS copper-indium-gallium-selenide
CIS copper-indium-selenide
CO2 carbon dioxide
CPC compound parabolic concentrator
CPV concentrating photovoltaic
CRS central receiver system
CSP concentrating solar power
DC direct current
DG distributed generation
DNI direct normal irradiance
DSO distribution system operator
DSR demand-side response
ESCO energy service company
EOR enhanced oil recovery
ETIP European Technology and Innovation Platform
FIP feed-in premium
FIT feed-in tariff
GDP gross domestic product
GHG greenhouse gas
GHI global horizontal irradiation
HVAC heating, ventilation and cooling
IEA International Energy Agency
IP intellectual property
IPP independent power producer
IRENA International Renewable Energy Agency
ISA International Solar Alliance
ISES International Solar Energy Society
LCOE levelised cost of electricity
LCOH levelised cost of heat
LED light-emitting diode
LPG liquefied petroleum gas
MI Mission Innovation
NGN Nigerian naira
NTPC National Thermal Power Corporation (India)
O&M operations and maintenance
OPEX operating expenses
PPA power purchase agreement
PAGE | 77
PT parabolic trough
PV photovoltaic
PVPS TCP Photovoltaic Power Systems Technology Collaboration Programme
RACI Responsible, Authorised, Consulted and Informed
RD&D research, development and demonstration
SECI Solar Energy Corporation of India
SHC solar heating and cooling
SHC TCP Solar Heating and Cooling Technology Collaboration Programme
SHIP solar heating in industrial processes
SHS solar home system
SolarPACES Solar Power & Chemical Energy Systems programme
STE solar thermal electricity
TCP Technology Collaboration Programme (IEA)
TSO transmission system operator
VAT value-added tax
VRE variable renewable energy
WACC weighted average cost of capital
WBG World Bank Group
Units of measure
°C degrees Celsius
GW gigawatt
GWth gigawatt thermal
kg kilogramme
km kilometre
kW kilowatt
kWh kilowatt hour
kWp kilowatt peak
kWth kilowatt thermal
L litre
m metre
mm millimetre
Mtoe million tonnes of oil equivalent
MW megawatt
MWh megawatt hour
MWth megawatt thermal
TW terawatt
TWh terawatt hour
W watt
PAGE | 78
INTERNATIONAL ENERGY
AGENCY
The IEA examines IEA member IEA association
the full spectrum countries: countries:
of energy issues
including oil, gas Australia Brazil
and coal supply and Austria China
demand, renewable Belgium India
energy technologies, Canada Indonesia
electricity markets, Czech Republic Morocco
energy efficiency, Denmark Singapore
access to energy, Estonia South Africa
demand side Finland Thailand
management and France
much more. Through Germany
its work, the IEA Greece
advocates policies Hungary
that will enhance Ireland
the reliability, Italy
affordability and Japan
sustainability of Korea
energy in its 30 Luxembourg
member countries, Mexico
8 association Netherlands
countries and New Zealand
beyond. Norway
Poland
Portugal
Slovak Republic
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
United Kingdom
United States
The European
Commission also
participates in the
work of the IEA
Please note that this

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terms and conditions are
available online at
www.iea.org/t&c/
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International Energy Agency
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This publication reﬂects the views of the IEA and ISA Secretariat but does not necessarily reﬂect those of individual IEA
or ISA member countries. The IEA makes no representation or warranty, express or implied, in respect of the
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Solar Energy Mapping The Road Ahead

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Solar Energy Mapping The Road Ahead

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Solar Energy

Mapping the road ahead

Dr Fatih Birol, Executive Director Upendra Tripathy, General Director

International Energy Agency International Solar Alliance

PV technology is unique in its extreme scalability, ranging from watt-scale individual

Removing barriers to investment

A guide for policy makers

Findings and recommendations

The process of developing and implementing a roadmap is as important as the document

Three families of technologies

Figure 2. Average auction price by project commissioning date

Note: MWh = megawatt hour.

IEA 2019. All rights reserved.

Box 1. Solar potential and resources

Global horizontal irradiance

Market and policy trends

Box 2. Off-grid solar

Box 3. The importance of the cost of capital for solar projects

Share of financing costs in the LCOE of solar PV

IEA 2019. All rights reserved.

Enabling technologies and system integration

Figure 4. VRE shares in total electricity generation by selected region, 2018

IEA 2019. All rights reserved.

Designing and implementing roadmaps

Figure 6. The roadmap development process

The four phases in brief

Figure 7. PV and CSP generation in the Sustainable Development Scenario

Source: IEA (2018c), World Energy Outlook 2018.

In climate-friendly scenarios, solar technologies provide up to 30% of global electricity.

Useful online resources

About technology roadmaps

All these stakeholders are critical to a strong roll-out of solar technologies.

Ideally, a roadmap is a dynamic document that incorporates metrics to monitor progress in

About this guide

Guide structure and roadmapping process

 Phase 1: Planning and preparation

Figure 8. The roadmap development process

About solar energy technologies

Assessing solar resource potential

Figure 9. Global horizontal irradiation

Figure 10. Photovoltaic electricity output

• residential systems (typically of up to 20 kW on individual buildings/dwellings)

Solar thermal technologies

Collectors are commonly distinguished as either flat-plate or evacuated-tube. Flat-plate

Solar thermal applications for buildings

Box 4. Solar Cooling

Daily space cooling load and solar PV input profile

Note: MWh = megawatt hour.

Source: IEA (2018a), The Future of Cooling.

Solar thermal applications for industry

For medium- and high-temperature applications, sun-tracking concentrating solar technologies

Figure 12. Direct normal irradiance

Concentrating solar power

Figure 13. Main CSP technologies

Source: IEA (2010), Technology Roadmap: Solar thermal electricity.

IEA 2019. All rights reserved.

Enabling technologies and system integration

Figure 15. VRE shares in total electricity generation by region, 2018

Source: IEA (2019a), Power System Transformation 2019.