The global renewable energy sector is growing at a rapid pace, and the installation of solar PV systems at homes, commercial buildings, and industrial facilities are set to rise in the next five years, according to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA)’s latest report.

The IEA report focuses primarily on distributed solar PV, and according to the findings, the world’s total renewable-based power capacity is set to grow by 50% between 2019-2024. The expected increase of 1,200 GW, which is equivalent to the total power capacity of the U.S. will be as a result of cost reductions, and concerted government efforts underlines IEA.

According to the report, solar PV will account for 60% of the rise, and the share of renewables in global power generation is set to grow from 26% to 30% by 2024. This positive outlook comes after a sluggish 2018, which saw the renewable capacity additions stalled for the first time in almost two decades.

Speaking about the growth of renewables, IEA’s executive director, Fatih Birol, said, “Renewables are already 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.”

The IEA report states that the main impediments in the path of broader deployment of renewables are policy and regulatory uncertainty, high investment risks, and system integration of wind and solar PV.

“As costs continue to fall, we have a growing incentive to ramp up deployment of solar PV,” added Fatih Birol. The demand for renewables is growing, and the cost of generating power from distributed PV is already less than retail electricity prices in many countries, and it is expected to further decline by 15% to 35% by 2024, which might spur wider adoption of sustainable energy worldwide.

The report stresses that there is a growing need to have policy and tariff reforms in place to ensure that distributed PVs growth is sustainable.

Speaking about the potential of distributed PVs, Birol explained, “Distributed PV’s potential is breathtaking, but its development needs to be well managed to manage the interests of PV system owners, other consumers, and distribution companies.”

The report also deals with other sources of renewable energy, and according to the forecast, renewable heat, which is vastly underexploited, is set to grow by one-fifth between 2019 and 2024, led mainly by China, India, the European Union, and the United States.

The IEA further notes that biofuels is expected to grow by 25% over the next five years, with Asia, particularly China leading the way.

The global solar sector received $9 billion in total corporate funding (including venture capital/private equity, public market, and debt financing) in the first nine months of 2019, compared to the $6.7 billion raised in 9M 2018, a 34% increase year-over-year (YoY), according to data revealed in Mercom Capital Group’s newly released 9M and Q3 2019 Solar Funding and M&A Report.

The Department of Biotechnology, India’s Ministry of Science and Technology, and IEA signed a Memorandum of Understanding last year, which aims at enhancing innovation for the clean energy transition. The main aim of the MoU is to facilitate cooperation between the agencies to accelerate research, development, and adoption of clean energy technologies in India.