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Report: Solar, wind power to hike renewable energy capacity by 2024

By Nicholas Sakelaris
The number of solar rooftop systems on homes is expected to double to 100 million by 2024, the outlook said. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
The number of solar rooftop systems on homes is expected to double to 100 million by 2024, the outlook said. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

Oct. 21 (UPI) -- The world's renewable energy capacity will increase by 50 percent within the next five years, as prices drop and government policy shifts, the International Energy Agency said Monday.

The IEA projected in its report global renewable energy capacity could reach 3,700 gigawatts by 2024 -- with solar and wind power accounting for nearly 90 percent of the anticipated increase.

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Rooftop solar, installed on businesses, homes and commercial industries, will make up nearly half the sun-powered increase. The rest would be utility-scale solar farms. The number of solar rooftop systems on homes is expected to double to 100 million by 2024.

Overall, the report said, renewable energy's share of the power mix is expected to increase from 26 percent to 30 percent -- due partly to rapid expansion in the European Union, strong growth in India and an "installation boom in Vietnam.

"Renewables are already the world's second largest source of electricity, but their deployment still needs to accelerate if we are to achieve long-term climate, air quality and energy access goals," IEA Executive Director Faith Birol said.

"As costs continue to fall, we have a growing incentive to ramp up the deployment of solar [photovoltaic]."

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