Accelerating the deployment of Photovoltaic (PV) systems is a key contributing factor in achieving climate neutrality. Even though solar power is one of the cheapest energy sources and its deployment is growing rapidly around the world, an even faster growth is required to achieve existing climate goals. Besides the role that finance and permitting can play as enablers or barriers to this, the key elements to enable fast PV deployment are the use of education, and science and data-driven tools to empower citizens, installers, and investors to make their decisions based on robust scientific evidence. This perspective article aims to summarize the key concepts presented and discussed during the side event at COP27 on PV resources towards climate neutrality. The article will accomplish this by highlighting two key aspects: (1) the advantages of using solar-related education and data-driven tools, and (2) showcasing the significance of education, improved data and tools, community involvement, and PV mapping in expediting the deployment of PV systems.

Thanks to fast learning and sustained growth, solar photovoltaics (PV) is today a highly cost-competitive technology, ready to contribute substantially to CO₂ emissions mitigation. However, many scenarios assessing global decarbonization pathways, either based on integrated assessment models or partial-equilibrium models, fail to identify the key role that this technology could play, including far lower future PV capacity than that projected by the PV community. In this perspective, we review the factors that lie behind the historical cost reductions of solar PV and identify innovations in the pipeline that could contribute to maintaining a high learning rate. We also aim at opening a constructive discussion among PV experts, modelers, and policymakers regarding how to improve the representation of this technology in the models and how to ensure that manufacturing and installation of solar PV- can ramp up on time, which will be crucial to remain in a decarbonization path compatible with the Paris Agreement.