Many countries and territories have installed significant solar power capacity into their electrical grids to supplement or provide an alternative to conventional energy sources. Solar power plants use one of two technologies:
Spain is one of the first countries to deploy large-scale solar photovoltaics, and is the world leader in concentrated solar power (CSP) production.
Wind power generation capacity in India has significantly increased in recent years. As of 30 September 2024, the total installed wind power capacity was 47.36 gigawatts (GW). India has the fourth largest installed wind power capacity in the world. Wind power capacity is mainly spread across the southern, western, and northwestern states. The onshore wind power potential of India was assessed at 132 GW with minimum 32% CUF at 120 m above the local ground level (agl). Whereas, the estimated potential at minimum 25% CUF is 695 GW at 120 agl.
Solar power in India is an essential source of renewable energy and electricity generation in India. Since the early 2000s, India has increased its solar power significantly with the help of various government initiatives and rapid awareness about the importance of renewable energy and sustainability in the society. In order to decrease carbon dioxide emissions, reduce reliance on fossil fuels, with coal being the primary source of electricity for the nation at present, bolster employment, economy and make India energy independent by making self-reliant on renewable energy, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy was formed in 1982 to look after the country's activities to promote these goals. These collaborative efforts, along with global cooperation with the help of International Solar Alliance (ISA) since 2015 for promoting solar energy worldwide while also taking care of India, have made India one of the world's fastest adopters of solar power, making it the third-largest producer of solar power globally as of 2024, after China and the United States.
For solar power, South Asia has the ideal combination of both high solar insolation and a high density of potential customers.
Solar power has a small but growing role in electricity production in the United Kingdom.
China is the largest market in the world for both photovoltaics and solar thermal energy. China's photovoltaic industry began by making panels for satellites, and transitioned to the manufacture of domestic panels in the late 1990s. After substantial government incentives were introduced in 2011, China's solar power market grew dramatically: the country became the world's leading installer of photovoltaics in 2013. China surpassed Germany as the world's largest producer of photovoltaic energy in 2015, and became the first country to have over 100 GW of total installed photovoltaic capacity in 2017. As of at least 2024, Chinese firms are the industry leaders in almost all of the key parts of the solar industry supply chain, including polysilicon, silicon wafers, batteries, and photovoltaic modules.
The National Solar Mission is an initiative of the Government of India and State Governments to promote solar power. The mission is one of the several policies of the National Action Plan on Climate Change. The program was inaugurated as the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 11 January 2010 with a target of 20 GW by 2022. This was later increased to 100 GW by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 2015 Union budget of India. India increased its utility solar power generation capacity by nearly 5 times from 2,650 MW on 26 May 2014 to 12,288.83 MW on 31 March 2017. The country added 9,362.65 MW in 2017–18, the highest of any year. The original target of 20 GW was surpassed in 2018, four years ahead of the 2022 deadline.
Solar power in Gujarat, a state of India, is a fast developing industry given that the large state is mostly arid. It was one of the first states to develop solar generation capacity in India.
A photovoltaic power station, also known as a solar park, solar farm, or solar power plant, is a large-scale grid-connected photovoltaic power system designed for the supply of merchant power. They are different from most building-mounted and other decentralized solar power because they supply power at the utility level, rather than to a local user or users. Utility-scale solar is sometimes used to describe this type of project.
Mithapur Solar Power Plant is a 25 MW solar power plant located in Mithapur, Gujarat. It is expected to produce 40,734 MWh/year. 108,696 230 Wp panels were used.
Solar power in France including overseas territories reached an installed capacity figure of 11.2 GW in 2020, and rose further to 17.1 GW at the end of 2022. Government plans announced in 2022 foresee solar PV capacity in France rising to 100 GW by 2050.
The Canal Solar Power Project is a solar canal project launched in Gujarat, India, to use the 532 km (331 mi) long network of Narmada canals across the state for setting up solar panels to generate electricity. It was the first ever such project in India. This project has been commissioned by SunEdison India.
The Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park is a photovoltaic power station in Bahawalpur, Punjab, Pakistan, named in honor of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the Founder of Pakistan. It is a 400 MW solar facility spanning an area of 8 km2 and hosting 1.6 million solar modules. The initial phase of the project was constructed by the Government of Punjab through a 100% owned subsidiary QA Solar in May 2015 at a cost of $131 million. On 5 May 2015, the then Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif inaugurated the first 100 MW project and dedicated it to the nation. Subsequent expansion was done in public-private partnership with Appolo Solar Development Pakistan Limited, Best Green Energy Pakistan Limited and Crest Energy Pakistan Limited each installing a 100 MW unit. The next phase of 100 MW will be installed by Zorlu Solar Pakistan (Pvt.) Limited, making it a 500 MW facility. Total planned capacity of the solar park is 1,000 MW.
Rewa Ultra Mega Solar is an operational ground mounted, grid-connected photovoltaic solar park spread over an area of 1,590 acres (6.4 km2) in the Gurh tehsil of Rewa district of Madhya Pradesh, India. It started producing power in 2018 and reached its full capacity of 750MW in January 2020. The project was dedicated to the nation by the Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi on July 10, 2020. It was the first solar project in India to break the grid parity barrier. It achieved a first-year tariff of INR 2.97/unit, while the previous record was INR 4.34/unit.
Kadapa Ultra Mega Solar Park is a solar park spread over a total area of 5,927.76 acres (23.9888 km2) in the Mylavaram mandal of Kadapa district, Andhra Pradesh.
Sanjeev Aggarwal is an Indian businessman. He is the founder of energy company Amplus Solar, acquired 100% in 2019 by PETRONAS for US$391 million, for which he was the former CEO. He exited Amplus in 2022 and founded Renewable Energy and Decarbonization platform Hexa Climate in 2023. As in May 2024, he is acting as the Executive Chairman at Hexa Climate. Hexa's group firms are present in over seven countries, including Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, Philippines, and now in India. Sanjeev also received the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry young leaders award in 2013.
Dholera Solar Park is a planned, large scale solar project in Dholera Special Investment Region (DSIR), Gujarat. It is categorised as an Ultra Mega Solar Power Project, by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy of the Central Government of India; the capacity will be 5 GW by 2030.
