Hunting for solar panels

Photovoltaic solar energy generating capacity is growing and much more is required to help mitigate climate change and meet the Sustainable Development Goals. This paper combines machine learning and remote sensing imagery in order to provide an inventory of solar photovoltaic generating units around the world. The authors identify 68,661 facilities, over 400% more than those identified by other currently available datasets. They estimate the global installed generating capacity to be around 400GW at the end of 2018. Most solar energy facilities are found to be located on croplands, followed by aridlands and grasslands.