Greentech Lead America: Annual worldwide installations of
renewable distributed generation (RDEG) will expand rapidly over the next five
years, nearly triple to reach 63.5 GW a year in 2017. According to a new report
from Pike Research, about 232 GW of distributed renewable will be added between
2012 and 2017.
RDEG sources such as distributed solar PV, small wind
power, and stationary fuel cells are more cost effective than centralized model
of power generation, transmission, and distribution. Currently, distributed
renewable installations represent less than one percent of total worldwide
electricity generating capacity, and this will grow rapidly over the next
half-decade.
The large majority of new installations will be solar
photovoltaics. As module costs dropped from roughly $4.00 per watt in 2006 to
$1.00 per watt in 2011, new solar PV additions will total 210 GW from 2012 to
2017.
“In a growing number of cases around the world, renewable
distributed generation technologies are more cost-effective than centralized
installations that require transmission to population centers. In many ways,
momentum is shifting to distributed, renewable sources that give consumers more
control over the electricity they consume and generate. But in order to reach
its full potential, the renewable distributed energy sector will require
continued innovation in business models, technology development, utility
participation, and investment in an uncertain economic climate,” said research
analyst Dexter Gauntlett.