Solar Photovoltaics (PVs) have enjoyed compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 34% between 2010 to 2020, including off-grid installations.

That explains how we reached cumulative installed capacity of 707.5 GW, generating 856 TWhs of electricity - roughly 3.2% of the global generation - by the end of 2020, according to a recently published report from Fraunhofer Institute in Freiburg, Germany (visual).

Impressive as it is, the technology keeps on getting better, more efficient at converting sunlight to electricity while using less raw material and energy in the manufacturing process.

The energy payback time of typical PV systems can be a year or less depending on the technology and the level of solar insolation. A wafer-based Silicon PV module installed in sunny Sicily, for example, has an energy payback time of around one year.

Assuming 20 years lifespan, it can produce 20 times the energy needed to produce it.

Solar PV technology's Experience Curve - also called Learning Curve - shows that in the last 40 years the module price decreased by 26% with each doubling of production resulting from economies of scale and technological improvements (visual below right).