The solar sector is on course for another record year of capacity growth, with an additional 593 gigawatts (GW) expected to be installed by 2024, energy think tank Ember revealed today.

This is “an increase of 29% compared to last year, maintaining strong growth after an estimated increase (of production capacity) of 87% in 2023,” the institute notes in a study released today.

Ember reckons that by July, solar panels capable of producing an additional 292 GW had been installed, 29% more energy than in the corresponding period in 2023.

“Once again, solar is growing faster than predicted as it establishes itself as the cheapest source of energy globally,” said Ewan Graham, electricity data analyst at Ember. “Strong growth in established markets is compounded by rapid growth elsewhere, leading to (solar generation) capacity increases higher than ever before.”

In its study, Ember notes that “solar capacity additions in 2024 are expected to exceed the total increase in coal-fired power generation capacity worldwide since 2010,” or 540 GW.

The think tank projects that China, the US, India, Germany and Brazil will account for 75% of global solar sector capacity growth in 2024.

China continues to lead internationally, with facilities increasing capacity by 28% in the first seven months of the year compared to the same period last year. “At this rate, China is on track to install 334 GW of solar generation capacity, representing 56% of global capacity additions in 2024,” Ember estimates.

In India, capacity additions during the first seven months of the year were higher than 77% of this corresponding period last year. At the current rate, India will have installed 23 GW within the year, the institute estimates.

In the US, capacity additions totaled 20 GW from January to June, 55% higher than the same period last year.

Germany has already exceeded its target for increasing solar power generation capacity in 2024 and, at the current rate, is close to meeting its new 2026 target set in the national energy and climate plan.