Solar power market to grow nearly 7% annually until 2028

The global solar power market is expected to grow to $293.2 billion in size by 2028, driven by the Asia Pacific region, according to a new report.

The Fortune Business Insights report, Solar Power Market 2021-2028, revealed that the market’s value stood at $170.6 billion in 2020, despite several setbacks during the pandemic.

By the end of the forecast period, the market will have reached $293.2 billion, based on a compound annual growth rate of 6.9%.

The Asia Pacific region, which accounted for $80.1 billion, or 47%, of the market’s size in 2020, is expected to dominate the solar power market over the next few years on the back of escalating demand for electricity in the region.

Fortune Business Insights said that rapid economic development and population growth in countries such as India and China were helping generate huge demand for energy.

In Europe, the increased number of solar farms, as well as the European Union’s clean energy policies, were the main market drivers, while the initiation of large-scale projects for solar power generation was predicted to propel the Middle East and Africa market.

The growth of solar power was hampered last year by supply chain disruptions and delayed projects as a result of social distancing measures and staggered lockdowns around the world.

While there are a number of renewable energy exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on the market in the US, there is only one – the $3.3 billion Invesco Solar ETF – dedicated to solar energy companies.

iShares – the ETF arm of asset management giant BlackRock – offers the $6bn iShares Global Clean Energy ETF. The fund’s underlying index was recently overhauled to help the manager cope with the huge influx of new money into the strategy over the past two years.