According to Solar Heat Worldwide, the cumulated solar thermal capacity operational at the end of 2019 reached 479 GWth, corresponding to an annual solar thermal energy yield of 389 TWh. This represents savings of 135.1 Mt of CO2. In 2019, new installations in the global solar thermal market declined by 6% (+606 MWth), due to fewer collector additions in China. At the end of 2019, 58% of the installed solar thermal capacity was located in Europe, followed by Asia (35%, with China accounting for 24% of the global capacity) and the Middle-East North Africa region.
Around 60% of the solar thermal systems installed worldwide are small-scale systems. However, the number of large solar heat plants is increasing. At least 74 large (>350 kWth) systems entered operations in 2019 to provide heat for district heating networks and large buildings.