India surpassed Japan to become 3rd largest solar power generator in 2023

India's rapid solar energy deployment has pushed it past Japan to become the third-largest solar power generator in the world in 2023. India was ranked ninth in solar energy deployment in 2015 by global energy think tank Ember.

In 2023, solar energy accounted for 5.5 percent of global electricity production. Following the global trend, India generated 5.8 per cent of its electricity from solar last year, Ember's "Global Electricity Review" reported.

Ember's Asia Programme director Aditya Lolla said, "Increasing clean electricity is not just for reducing carbon emissions in the power sector. It is also needed to meet the rising electricity demand in an increasingly-electrified economy and to decouple economic growth from emissions, which is crucial for tackling climate change."

Solar continued its streak as the world's fastest-growing electricity source for the 19th consecutive year. In 2023, solar added more than twice as much new electricity worldwide as coal.

India saw the world's fourth-largest surge in solar generation in 2023 (+18 terawatt hour or TWh). This surge was placed behind China (+156 TWh), followed by United States (+33 TWh) and Brazil (+22 TWh). These top four countries accounted for 75 per cent of solar growth in 2023.

According to Ember, the global solar generation in 2023 was six times larger than that in 2015. Solar's contribution to electricity generation in India experienced rise from 0.5 per cent in 2015 to 5.8 per cent in 2023.

The International Energy Agency's (IEA) "Net Zero Emissions" scenario has said that solar would increase to 22 percent of global electricity generation by 2030.

Given that electricity generation contributes to nearly half of India's annual carbon dioxide emissions, expediting the transition to cleaner generation sources is imperative for the country to fulfill both its developmental and climate objectives.