The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) announced that solar power has the major technical potential of all renewables ‘by a large magnitude’ to fulfill the world’s energy demand.

According to a report on climate change mitigation by IPCC Working Group 3, renewable energy provides 21% of world electricity demand in 2012.

Go deeper with GlobalData

Data Insights

The gold standard of business intelligence.

Find out more

The IPCC estimates that renewables have the potential to fulfill energy demand globally, while solar energy has technical potential to exceed world energy demand on its own.

The solar power sector provides greater employment opportunities, with 18 and seven times more jobs per unit of power generated than nuclear and wind energy respectively, the IPCC said.

The Solar Trade Association (STA) in the UK has urged households and businesses to use their roofs to reduce greenhouse gases.

STA head of external affairs Leonie Greene said, "The IPCC has done a superb job of identifying the solutions to climate change and showing that transforming our energy system is affordable.

How well do you really know your competitors?

Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.

Company Profile – free sample

Thank you!

Your download email will arrive shortly

Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample

We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form

By GlobalData
Visit our Privacy Policy for more information about our services, how we may use, process and share your personal data, including information of your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications. Our services are intended for corporate subscribers and you warrant that the email address submitted is your corporate email address.
"Solar energy has technical potential to exceed world energy demand on its own."

"The government has made it easy and cost-effective for households to invest in solar and it should be possible to reach one million solar roofs in 2015. Everyone who invests in solar energy today is helping to bring down the costs."

Greene added, "However, DECC needs to ensure the community, commercial and public sectors can play their part by reforming the Feed-in Tariff scheme to enable the expansion of larger solar roofs.

"Larger solar roof applications are particularly cost-effective so we need to see urgent action to realise the huge potential here."

The IPCC report has revealed that global solar power capacity grew 25-fold between 2005 – 2012.

The levelised cost of solar power has dropped 57% since 2009.

With a total installed capacity of 255GW by 2012, solar thermal capacity has doubled against solar power capacity.

Energy