The report examines the specificities of mini-grids connected to solar, biomass, wind and small hydropower, or some combination of these with other energy sources, and discusses the key factors influencing investors in mini-grid projects.
This report examines ground-breaking innovations that can help to unlock future power supply for unserved areas and communities through the rapid roll-out of mini-grids based on solar, wind or other renewable sources.
This working paper is part of a set of five reports on hydropower, wind, biomass, concentrating solar power and solar pholtovoltaics that address the current costs of these key renewable power technology options.
This brief focuses on heat pump technologies based on renewable energy sources.
Renewable energy development can drive economic growth, create new jobs and enhance human health and welfare at the national level. The Leveraging Local Capacity series examines the kinds of jobs created and suggests ways to build on existing industries.
This publication presents statistics for the decade 2010-2019 in trilingual tables, covering off-grid power capacity, biogas production and numbers of people using off-grid power and biogas for cooking and lighting.
Offshore renewable energy – including offshore wind and solar power, as well as emerging ocean energy technologies – could support sustainable long-term development and drive a vibrant blue economy.
The municipal authorities for Zhangjiakou City, in co-operation with the China National Renewable Energy Centre (CNREC) and IRENA, have adopted an ambitious 30-year roadmap to phase out coal-fired power generation and scale up solar and wind power instead.
This report investigates the potential benefits of large-scale solar and wind energy projects to local communities in Sub-Saharan Africa.
This study finds that women continue to face numerous barriers to engagement in the decentralised solar PV workforce, providing recommendations to advance female inclusion in the sector.
This report summarises IRENA analysis to identify favourable zones in Mali for utility-scale solar PV and onshore wind projects, and their associated techno-economic parameters.
This latest report in the leveraging local capacity series highlights the job potential of concentrated solar power (CSP).
Based on a new, unique dataset from a global survey, this IRENA report presents unprecedented insights on the cost of capital for onshore wind, offshore wind and solar photovoltaic (PV) projects.
This report summarises IRENA analysis to identify favourable zones in Georgia for utility-scale solar PV and onshore wind projects, and their associated techno-economic parameters.
Electricity storage will be crucial factor for scaling up solar and wind power. Yet electricity markets may not account for the system value of storage.
This technology brief provides technical background information, analyses market potential and barriers, and offers insights for policy makers on thermal energy storage.
The Global Atlas for Renewable Energy (Global Atlas) is a free online resource-assessment tool intended to help policy makers and investors appreciate the extent of the renewable energy resources at their disposal in each country or region.
Solar thermal systems (STS) are a mature technology that has been successfully deployed in several countries for residential applications since the early 1980s. This IRENA/IEA-ETSAP Technology Brief provides technical background, analyses the potential and the barriers for market growth, and offers insights for policy makers on this key renewable energy technology.
This IRENA/IEA-ETSAP Technology Brief provides technical background, analyses the potential and barriers for market growth, and offers insights for policy makers on tSolar thermal systems (STS) .
The report provides insights on various emerging offshore renewable energy technologies and their underlying potential. It also outlines a possible Action Plan for the G20 countries to drive offshore technologies closer to the commercialisation phase.
This study presents options to fully unlock the world’s vast solar PV potential over the period until 2050. It builds on IRENA’s global roadmap to scale up renewables and meet climate goals.
This report from IRENA examines the evolution of solar PV simulators, from single-rooftop assessments at the household level to large-scale, aggregate-level analyses undertaken by municipal authorities and other large entities.
The report discusses challenges in policy making and proposes a co-ordinated effort to collect data on the installed costs of solar PV in Africa, across all market segments to improve the efficiency of policy support and accelerate deployment.
The report provides insights on the country’s potential to adopt solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind power.
Like an increasing number of countries around the world, the Philippines has adopted clear targets for the adoption solar, wind and bioenergy-based power systems, with project development already underway in some cases