ABSTRACT
The share of solar electricity in Africa and the Middle East in 2017 is still very small, but it is expected that these areas will become the next large markets for solar electric systems. In Africa and the Middle East, the utilization of solar energy to generate electricity for various reasons has begun to rise and will continue to grow tremendously. Africa has been called the "lost continent," but since 2000, it is not lost anymore. Many of its countries are among the world's fastest-growing economies and are on the way to becoming middle-income countries, with a growing middle class. The countries in the Middle East, many of which possess an incredible amount of oil and gas, have started deploying large solar electric systems to produce their electricity. However, there is growing recognition that without utilizing solar energy to produce electricity, in a few years they will face serious economic problems or even bankruptcy.
