ABSTRACT
Solar PV technology has been on a roller coaster ride to penetrate both urban and rural areas globally. At one time, there was a wide subsidised market for end-use applications such as lighting, water pumping and battery charging in rural areas. As technology became more mature and reliable, markets began to shift towards urban areas. Rooftop PV systems came up in capacities ranging between just a few kilowatts and several megawatts. Importantly, PV grid-connected power plants gained ground in terms of a growing favour from a large number of project developers. For example, PV plants that had a capacity of just 2.11 MW have reached a capacity of 4000 MW within a short period of time, that is during 2011–2015.
