17.5 Installations development in the World
Worldwide energy consumption is increasing regularly - according to British Petrol Statistical Review of World Energy 2020 total energy consumption increased by \( 1.3\% \) in relation to the previous year ( Fig. 1 ). Renewable energy sources (including biofuels) have seen record growth in energy consumption ( \( 3.2 EJ =3.2 \cdot 10^{18}J \)). Wind was the largest contributor to the development of renewable energy sources (1.4 EJ), followed by solar energy (1.2 EJ). The photovoltaic market in China has been the fastest growing for several years. 16 GW of new installations have been installed in the European Union, with 13 GW in the United States.
Research and development spending on renewable energy has increased by \( 10\% \), reaching $13 billion. Approximately half of this amount was spent on solar energy [1], [2].
China (responsible for \( 28.5\% \) global emissions \( CO_2 \)) have declared that they want to achieve climate neutrality by 2060, i.e. to stop emitting excess carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. IHS Markit points out that the capacity of photovoltaic panels will have to increase more than tenfold from the current 213 GW to 2200 GW, and the capacity of windmills from 231 GW to 1700 GW. The development of renewable energy technologies, including photovoltaics, will become one of the key areas of the economy in the coming years [3].