Investment in solar energy is strong - outside the U.S.

While I post many stories about American individuals, companies, and governments investing in solar energy - often very significant investments - the amount of money invested in this country, and the amount of energy being supplied by solar and other renewable energy sources is relatively small compared to both our usage and the investment being made overseas.

From Bloomberg:


Masdar, Abu Dhabi’s state-owned renewable energy company, is working on a portfolio of renewable power generation projects worth about $5 billion, according to Frank Wouters, the director of Masdar Power.
In Spain, the company has three solar projects worth about $1 billion, Wouters said at a media briefing in Abu Dhabi today. A 20-megawatt plant will start producing power this month and two 50-megawatt facilities will start this year, he said. Masdar also has stakes in the 1-gigawatt London Array offshore windfarm and a 6-megawatt offshore wind project in the Seychelles.
Abu Dhabi, which holds almost all the oil reserves in the United Arab Emirates, is investing in solar and wind power all over the world to pioneer the use of renewable energy. The emirate is building Masdar City, a business and residential complex designed to minimize carbon emissions, and serves as headquarters for the International Renewable Energy Agency.
Masdar is a key component of Abu Dhabi’s aim to generate at least 7 percent of the power it uses from renewable sources by 2020. Growth in power demand to more than 20,000 megawatts by the end of the decade would require about 1,500 megawatts from projects such as wind and solar plants, according to data from Abu Dhabi’s utility.
The company’s domestic projects include the Shams 1 project, the largest concentrated solar plant in the Middle East, which is 45 percent complete and will be ready next year, according to a statement received by e-mail today. Masdar expects to award a construction contract for the 100-megawatt Noor 1 photovoltaic plant by the end of 2011 and may start building a 30-megawatt wind farm on Sir Bani Yas island.
Concentrated solar plants reflect sunlight, usually with mirrors, to heat liquids and create steam to turn turbines and generate power. Photovoltaic plants use solar panels, which convert sunlight directly to electricity. Masdar already operates a 10-megawatt facility of this type in Abu Dhabi.

From Reuters:

Solar power in India could cost the same as conventional electricity by 2019-20, a report said on Tuesday, which could boost the use of an energy source regarded as key to curbing emissions in the world's third-worst carbon polluter.
A KPMG report said more aggressive policy could see solar power prices decline at a rate of 5-7 percent annually over the next decade, ensuring "grid parity", or the point when solar power costs the same as conventional power, as early as 2017-18.
Such targets are well in line with India's plans to produce 20 gigawatts (GW)of solar power by 2022, though hurdles such as steep production costs, lack of data and trained manpower remain. [ID:nL3E7GN11C]
"The pace at which the gap between solar power tariffs and the landed cost of power will be bridged will determine the pace at which solar power will take off," the report said.
"While we expect grid parity for these consumer categories -- domestic and agriculture -- in 2019-20, based on state-specific and end-use specific cost economics, the adoption of solar is likely to happen earlier."
It said certain states such as Rajasthan and Gujarat in the west and Tamil Nadu in the south could reach grid parity earlier than others because of more favourable policies and sunnier weather, thereby reducing costs.