The International Energy Agency has predicted that up to 25% of global electricity could be generated by solar power by 2050.

IEA executive director Nobuo Tanaka said that solar photovoltaic (PV) and concentrating solar power (CSP) offer “considerable prospects for enhancing energy security while reducing energy-related CO2 emissions by almost six billion tonnes per year by 2050”.

The agency has outlined how the two solar technologies could be utilised in different yet complementary ways: PV mostly for on-grid distributed generation in many regions and CSP largely providing dispatchable electricity at utility scale from regions with bright sun and clear skies.