Terawatt-Scale Photovoltaics: Transform Global Energy

Nancy Haegel; Teresa Barnes; Anthony Burrell; David Feldman; Benjamin Kroposki; Sarah Kurtz; Robert Margolis; Wyatt Metzger; William Tumas; Jao Van De Lagemaat; Emily Warren; Mary Werner; Harry Atwater, Jr.; Christian Breyer; Yet-Ming Chiang; Stefaan Wolf; Bernhard Dimmler; Stefan Glunz; Jan Goldschmidt; David Hochschild; Ruben Inzunza; Izumi Kaizuka; Sylvere Leu; Koji Matsubara; Axel Metz; Mahesh Morjaria; Shigeru Niki; Stefan Nowak; Ian Peters; Simon Philipps; Thomas Reindl; Andre Richter; Doug Rose; Keiichiro Sakurai; Rutger Schlatmann; Masahiro Shikano; Wim Sinke; Ron Sinton; BJ Stanbery; Marko Topic; Yuzuru Ueda; Pierre Verlinden; Matthias Vetter; Masafumi Yamaguchi; Andreas Bett

doi:10.1126/science.aaw1845

Terawatt-Scale Photovoltaics: Transform Global Energy

Nancy Haegel
, Teresa Barnes
, Anthony Burrell
, David Feldman
, Benjamin Kroposki
, Sarah Kurtz
, Robert Margolis
, Wyatt Metzger
, William Tumas
, Jao Van De Lagemaat
, Emily Warren
, Mary Werner
, Harry Atwater, Jr.
, Christian Breyer
, Yet-Ming Chiang
, Stefaan Wolf
, Bernhard Dimmler
, Stefan Glunz
, Jan Goldschmidt
, David Hochschild

Ruben Inzunza, Izumi Kaizuka, Sylvere Leu, Koji Matsubara, Axel Metz, Mahesh Morjaria, Shigeru Niki, Stefan Nowak, Ian Peters, Simon Philipps, Thomas Reindl, Andre Richter, Doug Rose, Keiichiro Sakurai, Rutger Schlatmann, Masahiro Shikano, Wim Sinke, Ron Sinton, BJ Stanbery, Marko Topic, Yuzuru Ueda, Pierre Verlinden, Matthias Vetter, Masafumi Yamaguchi, Andreas Bett

National Renewable Energy Laboratory
California Institute of Technology
Lappeenranta University of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
King Abdullah University of Science & Technology
NICE Solar Energy
Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems
California Energy Commission
Toshiba Mitsubishi-Electric Industrial Systems Corporation
RTS Corporation
Meyer Burger
National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science & Technology
VDE Association for Electrical, Electronic & Information Technologies
First Solar
NET Nowak Energie & Technologie
National University of Singapore
Ametek
Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin
Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands
Sinton Consulting
Siva Power
University of Ljubljana
Tokyo University of Science
Amrock Homes
Toyota

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

451 Scopus Citations

Abstract

Solar energy has the potential to play a central role in the future global energy system because of the scale of the solar resource, its predictability, and its ubiquitous nature. Global installed solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity exceeded 500 GW at the end of 2018, and an estimated additional 500 GW of PV capacity is projected to be installed by 2022-2023, bringing us into the era of TW-scale PV. Given the speed of change in the PV industry, both in terms of continued dramatic cost decreases and manufacturing-scale increases, the growth toward TW-scale PV has caught many observers, including many of us (1), by surprise. Two years ago, we focused on the challenges of achieving 3 to 10 TW of PV by 2030. Here, we envision a future with ~10 TW of PV by 2030 and 30 to 70 TW by 2050, providing a majority of global energy. PV would be not just a key contributor to electricity generation but also a central contributor to all segments of the global energy system. We discuss ramifications and challenges for complementary technologies (e.g., energy storage, power to gas/liquid fuels/chemicals, grid integration, and multiple sector electrification) and summarize what is needed in research in PV performance, reliability, manufacturing, and recycling.

Original language	American English
Pages (from-to)	836-838
Number of pages	3
Journal	Science
Volume	364
Issue number	6443
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaw1845
State	Published - 2019

NLR Publication Number

NREL/JA-5K00-72778

Keywords

capacity
photovoltaics
terawatt

Access to Document

10.1126/science.aaw1845

Cite this

Haegel, N., Barnes, T., Burrell, A., Feldman, D., Kroposki, B., Kurtz, S., Margolis, R., Metzger, W., Tumas, W., Van De Lagemaat, J., Warren, E., Werner, M., Atwater, Jr., H., Breyer, C., Chiang, Y.-M., Wolf, S., Dimmler, B., Glunz, S., Goldschmidt, J., ... Bett, A. (2019). Terawatt-Scale Photovoltaics: Transform Global Energy. Science, 364(6443), 836-838. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaw1845

@article{f46168bfccee42dfbae21cc4c9c36cff,

title = "Terawatt-Scale Photovoltaics: Transform Global Energy",

abstract = "Solar energy has the potential to play a central role in the future global energy system because of the scale of the solar resource, its predictability, and its ubiquitous nature. Global installed solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity exceeded 500 GW at the end of 2018, and an estimated additional 500 GW of PV capacity is projected to be installed by 2022-2023, bringing us into the era of TW-scale PV. Given the speed of change in the PV industry, both in terms of continued dramatic cost decreases and manufacturing-scale increases, the growth toward TW-scale PV has caught many observers, including many of us (1), by surprise. Two years ago, we focused on the challenges of achieving 3 to 10 TW of PV by 2030. Here, we envision a future with \textasciitilde{}10 TW of PV by 2030 and 30 to 70 TW by 2050, providing a majority of global energy. PV would be not just a key contributor to electricity generation but also a central contributor to all segments of the global energy system. We discuss ramifications and challenges for complementary technologies (e.g., energy storage, power to gas/liquid fuels/chemicals, grid integration, and multiple sector electrification) and summarize what is needed in research in PV performance, reliability, manufacturing, and recycling.",

keywords = "capacity, photovoltaics, terawatt",

author = "Nancy Haegel and Teresa Barnes and Anthony Burrell and David Feldman and Benjamin Kroposki and Sarah Kurtz and Robert Margolis and Wyatt Metzger and William Tumas and \{Van De Lagemaat\}, Jao and Emily Warren and Mary Werner and \{Atwater, Jr.\}, Harry and Christian Breyer and Yet-Ming Chiang and Stefaan Wolf and Bernhard Dimmler and Stefan Glunz and Jan Goldschmidt and David Hochschild and Ruben Inzunza and Izumi Kaizuka and Sylvere Leu and Koji Matsubara and Axel Metz and Mahesh Morjaria and Shigeru Niki and Stefan Nowak and Ian Peters and Simon Philipps and Thomas Reindl and Andre Richter and Doug Rose and Keiichiro Sakurai and Rutger Schlatmann and Masahiro Shikano and Wim Sinke and Ron Sinton and BJ Stanbery and Marko Topic and Yuzuru Ueda and Pierre Verlinden and Matthias Vetter and Masafumi Yamaguchi and Andreas Bett",

year = "2019",

doi = "10.1126/science.aaw1845",

language = "American English",

volume = "364",

pages = "836--838",

journal = "Science",

issn = "0036-8075",

publisher = "American Association for the Advancement of Science",

number = "6443",

}

Haegel, N , Barnes, T , Burrell, A , Feldman, D , Kroposki, B , Kurtz, S, Margolis, R, Metzger, W, Tumas, W , Van De Lagemaat, J , Warren, E , Werner, M, Atwater, Jr., H, Breyer, C, Chiang, Y-M, Wolf, S, Dimmler, B, Glunz, S, Goldschmidt, J, Hochschild, D, Inzunza, R, Kaizuka, I, Leu, S, Matsubara, K, Metz, A, Morjaria, M, Niki, S, Nowak, S, Peters, I, Philipps, S, Reindl, T, Richter, A, Rose, D, Sakurai, K, Schlatmann, R, Shikano, M, Sinke, W, Sinton, R, Stanbery, BJ, Topic, M, Ueda, Y, Verlinden, P, Vetter, M, Yamaguchi, M & Bett, A 2019, 'Terawatt-Scale Photovoltaics: Transform Global Energy', Science, vol. 364, no. 6443, pp. 836-838. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaw1845

TY - JOUR

T1 - Terawatt-Scale Photovoltaics: Transform Global Energy

AU - Haegel, Nancy

AU - Barnes, Teresa

AU - Burrell, Anthony

AU - Feldman, David

AU - Kroposki, Benjamin

AU - Kurtz, Sarah

AU - Margolis, Robert

AU - Metzger, Wyatt

AU - Tumas, William

AU - Van De Lagemaat, Jao

AU - Warren, Emily

AU - Werner, Mary

AU - Atwater, Jr., Harry

AU - Breyer, Christian

AU - Chiang, Yet-Ming

AU - Wolf, Stefaan

AU - Dimmler, Bernhard

AU - Glunz, Stefan

AU - Goldschmidt, Jan

AU - Hochschild, David

AU - Inzunza, Ruben

AU - Kaizuka, Izumi

AU - Leu, Sylvere

AU - Matsubara, Koji

AU - Metz, Axel

AU - Morjaria, Mahesh

AU - Niki, Shigeru

AU - Nowak, Stefan

AU - Peters, Ian

AU - Philipps, Simon

AU - Reindl, Thomas

AU - Richter, Andre

AU - Rose, Doug

AU - Sakurai, Keiichiro

AU - Schlatmann, Rutger

AU - Shikano, Masahiro

AU - Sinke, Wim

AU - Sinton, Ron

AU - Stanbery, BJ

AU - Topic, Marko

AU - Ueda, Yuzuru

AU - Verlinden, Pierre

AU - Vetter, Matthias

AU - Yamaguchi, Masafumi

AU - Bett, Andreas

PY - 2019

Y1 - 2019

N2 - Solar energy has the potential to play a central role in the future global energy system because of the scale of the solar resource, its predictability, and its ubiquitous nature. Global installed solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity exceeded 500 GW at the end of 2018, and an estimated additional 500 GW of PV capacity is projected to be installed by 2022-2023, bringing us into the era of TW-scale PV. Given the speed of change in the PV industry, both in terms of continued dramatic cost decreases and manufacturing-scale increases, the growth toward TW-scale PV has caught many observers, including many of us (1), by surprise. Two years ago, we focused on the challenges of achieving 3 to 10 TW of PV by 2030. Here, we envision a future with ~10 TW of PV by 2030 and 30 to 70 TW by 2050, providing a majority of global energy. PV would be not just a key contributor to electricity generation but also a central contributor to all segments of the global energy system. We discuss ramifications and challenges for complementary technologies (e.g., energy storage, power to gas/liquid fuels/chemicals, grid integration, and multiple sector electrification) and summarize what is needed in research in PV performance, reliability, manufacturing, and recycling.

AB - Solar energy has the potential to play a central role in the future global energy system because of the scale of the solar resource, its predictability, and its ubiquitous nature. Global installed solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity exceeded 500 GW at the end of 2018, and an estimated additional 500 GW of PV capacity is projected to be installed by 2022-2023, bringing us into the era of TW-scale PV. Given the speed of change in the PV industry, both in terms of continued dramatic cost decreases and manufacturing-scale increases, the growth toward TW-scale PV has caught many observers, including many of us (1), by surprise. Two years ago, we focused on the challenges of achieving 3 to 10 TW of PV by 2030. Here, we envision a future with ~10 TW of PV by 2030 and 30 to 70 TW by 2050, providing a majority of global energy. PV would be not just a key contributor to electricity generation but also a central contributor to all segments of the global energy system. We discuss ramifications and challenges for complementary technologies (e.g., energy storage, power to gas/liquid fuels/chemicals, grid integration, and multiple sector electrification) and summarize what is needed in research in PV performance, reliability, manufacturing, and recycling.

KW - capacity

KW - photovoltaics

KW - terawatt

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85066849413

U2 - 10.1126/science.aaw1845

DO - 10.1126/science.aaw1845

M3 - Article

SN - 0036-8075

VL - 364

SP - 836

EP - 838

JO - Science

JF - Science

IS - 6443

ER -

Terawatt-Scale Photovoltaics: Transform Global Energy

Abstract

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Keywords

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