Two new reports from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century show that, of all the new energy added in the United States in 2009, 50 percent was renewable energy, led by wind and solar development. And in Europe, 60 percent of all new energy added was renewable energy. The reports projected that in 2010 or 2011, at least 50 percent of all new electricity production in the world could come from renewables. Of all the energy installed in 2009, 47 percent of it was renewable.

According to the reports, photovoltaic (PV) energy was the fastest growing power generation technology in the world. The UNEP report noted that “between 2004 and 2009, grid-connected PV capacity increased at an annual average rate of 60 percent. This was the largest volume of solar PV ever added in one year.”

While the majority of the new electricity was wind power, 38 gigawatts (GWs), solar power made big gains, too. According to the reports, between 10 GWs and 11GWs of PVs were added in 2009 across the globe. Of that, an “estimated 7 GW of grid-tied capacity was added in 2009, increasing the existing total by 53 percent to some 21 GW (off-grid PV accounts for an additional 3–4 GW),” the UNEP reported.

Of the newly installed PV, the majority, 3.8 GWs, were installed in Germany, blowing past the previous record of 2.4 GWs installed by Spain in 2008. With 710 megawatts (MWs) of new PV installed in 2009, Italy was the second largest market for solar power. The United States was third in newly installed PV in 2009, with 470 megawatts (MW).

Concentrated solar power (CSP) also saw a lot of growth in 2009. Development of CSP in the United States and Spain increased “more than 70 percent between 2005 and the end of 2009…to about 610 MW,” the UNEP said. Two new United States CSP facilities will add more than 200 MWs when they come online in 2010. And more than 8 GW of CSP in the United States will likely be operational by 2014.