With a cumulative global installed capacity of 651GW, it is the fourth largest source of electricity

According to the 2020 Power Transition Trends Report released by Bloomberg New Energy Finance BNEF, solar energy has made great progress in the past decade, increasing its installed capacity from 43.
7 GW in 2010 to 651 GW by the end of 2019, also surpassing the installed capacity of wind power (644 GW).

Solar energy is now the world's fourth largest source of
electricity generation after coal (2,089GW), natural gas (1,812GW) and hydropower (1,160GW).

Luiza Demôro, BNEF analyst and lead author of the study, said: "The dramatic drop in the cost of solar equipment, including modules for rooftop and outdoor use, has made this technology widely available in homes, businesses and the grid
.
Now, solar PV technology is truly ubiquitous and a global phenomenon
.
”

In terms of power generation, solar energy contributes much less because it generates less electricity than fossil
fuels.
BNEF found that solar accounted for 2.
7% of global electricity generation in 2019, but up from 0.
16%
10 years ago.
Given the cost advantages of the technology and the limited adoption of generation-based adoption, BNEF expects the market to continue to grow, with 140-178GW of new solar
built by 2022.

In terms of other sources of power generation, electricity produced by coal fell by 3%
in 2018-2019 due to reduced frequency of plant operation.
This marks the first decline in coal production since 2014-2015, and although there are far more online coal-fired power plants in the world today than a decade ago, these plants operate less
frequently.
The average utilization rate of coal-fired power plants fell from 57% in 2010 to 50%
in 2019.
However, coal production in 2019 was 9,200 terawatt hours (TWh) up 17%
from 2010.

Global coal-fired power capacity has soared by 32% over the past decade, reaching 2.
1TW
in 2019.
Since 2010, the net phase-out of more than 113GW of coal in developed countries cannot offset the 691GW of net new coal additions
in emerging markets.
In 2019, the global net new coal capacity was 39GW, significantly higher than the 19GW installed in 2018
.

Ethan Zindler, BNEF's head of the Americas, said: "Rich countries are moving quickly to mothball older, inefficient coal-fired power plants because they cannot compete
with new gas or renewable energy projects.
However, in less developed countries, particularly in South and Southeast Asia, new, more efficient coal-fired power plants usually continue to come online
with international financial support.
”

Overall, solar and wind installed capacity accounted for more than two-thirds of the global increase of 265 GW in 2019 in 2019, up from less than a quarter in 2010
.
For the first time, these two technologies also account for the majority of
new installed capacity.
If hydroelectric power is included, renewables accounted for three-quarters
of the capacity commissioned in 2019.