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Solar energy attracted nearly twice as much investment as wind, driving the sector to surge past wind power to become the renewable energy technology of choice for global investors in 2011. According to two reports from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21), the solar energy sector drove the renewable energy sector to yet another record-breaking year, albeit one beset with challenges for the industry.
UNEP’s report-‘Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2012’- based on data from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF, states that despite an increasingly tough competitive landscape for manufacturers, total investment in renewable power and fuels in 2011 increased by 17 percent to a record $257 billion, a six-fold increase on the 2004 figure. The increase was 94 percent higher than the total in 2007, the year before the world financial crisis, it said.
“Although last year’s 17 percent increase was significantly smaller than the 37 percent growth recorded in 2010, it was achieved at a time of rapidly falling prices for renewable energy equipment and severe pressure on fiscal budgets in the developed world,” it observed.
The REN21 Renewables 2012 Global Status Report, notes that during 2011, renewables continued to grow strongly in all end-use sectors. According to this report, in 2011, renewable energy technologies continued to expand into new markets: around 50 countries installed wind power capacity, and solar photovaoltaic capacity moved rapidly into new regions and countries.
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