Markets for second-generation technologies of renewable energy have been strong and growing over the past decade, and these technologies have gone from being a passion for the dedicated few to a major economic sector in countries such as Germany, Spain, the United States, and Japan. Many large industrial companies and financial institutions are involved and the challenge is to broaden the market base for continued growth worldwide.

Solar Heating

Solar heating systems are a well known second-generation technology and generally consist of solar thermal collectors, a fluid system to move the heat from the collector to its point of usage, and a reservoir or tank for heat storage. The systems may be used to heat domestic hot water, swimming pools, or homes and businesses. The heat can also be used for industrial process applications or as an energy input for other uses such as cooling equipment.

In many warmer climates, a solar heating system can provide a very high percentage (50 to 75%) of domestic hot water energy. As of 2009, China has 27 million rooftop solar water heaters.

Photovoltaics

Photovoltaic (PV) cells, also called solar cells, convert light into electricity. In the 1980s and early 1990s, most photovoltaic modules were used to provide remote-area power suppy, but from around 1995, industry efforts have focused increasingly on developing building integrated photovoltaics and photovoltaic power plants for grid connected applications.

As of October 2009, the largest photovoltaic (PV) power plants in the world are the Olmedilla Photovoltaic Park (Spain, 60 MW), the Puertollano Photovoltaic Park (Spain, 50 MW), the Moura photovoltaic power station (Portugal, 46 MW), and the Waldpolenz Solar Park (Germany, 40 MW). The largest photovoltaic power plant in North America is the 25 MW DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center in Florida. The plant consists of over 90,000 solar panels.

At the end of 2008, the cumulative global PV installations reached 15,200 MW. Photovoltaic production has been doubling every two years, increasing by an average of 48 percent each year since 2002, making it the world’s fastest-growing energy technology. The top five photovoltaic producing countries are Japan, China, Germany, Taiwan, and the USA.

Wind power

Some of the second-generation renewables, such as wind power plant, have high potential and have already realised relatively low production costs. At the end of 2009, worldwide wind farm capacity was 157,900 MW, representing an increase of 31 percent during the year, and wind power supplied some 1.3% of global electricity consumption. Wind power is widely used in European countries, and more recently in the United States and Asia. Wind power accounts for approximately 19% of electricity generation in Denmark, 11% in Spain and Portugal, and 9% in the Republic of Ireland. These are some of the largest wind farms in the world, as of January 2010:

Wind farm	Installed capacity (MW)	Country
Capricorn Ridge Wind Farm	662	USA
Fowler Ridge Wind Farm	750	USA
Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center	736	USA
Roscoe Wind Farm	781	USA
San Gorgonio Pass Wind Farm	619	USA
Tehachapi Pass Wind Farm	690	USA

Solar thermal power stations

Solar thermal power plants include the 354 MW Solar Energy Generating Systems power complex in the USA, Nevada Solar One (USA, 64 MW), Andasol 1 (Spain, 50 MW) and the PS10 solar power tower (Spain, 11 MW). Many other plants are under construction or planned, mainly in Spain and the USA. In developing countries, three World Bank projects for integrated solar thermal/combined-cycle gas-turbine power plants in Egypt, Mexico, and Morocco have been approved.

Modern forms of Bioenergy

Global ethanol production for transport fuel tripled between 2000 and 2007 from 17 billion to more than 52 billion litres, while biodiesel expanded more than ten-fold from less than 1 billion to almost 11 billion litres. Biofuels provide 1.8% of the world’s transport fuel and recent estimates indicate a continued high growth. The main producing countries for transport biofuels are the USA, Brazil, and the EU.

Brazil has one of the largest renewable energy programs in the world, involving production of ethanol fuel from sugar cane, and ethanol now provides 18 percent of the country's automotive fuel. As a result of this and the exploitation of domestic deep water oil sources, Brazil, which for years had to import a large share of the petroleum needed for domestic consumption, recently reached complete self-sufficiency in liquid fuels.

Most cars on the road today in the U.S. can run on blends of up to 10% ethanol, and motor vehicle manufacturers already produce vehicles designed to run on much higher ethanol blends. Ford, DaimlerChrysler, and GM are among the automobile companies that sell flexible-fuel cars, trucks, and minivans that can use gasoline and ethanol blends ranging from pure gasoline up to 85% ethanol (E85). By mid-2006, there were approximately six million E85-compatible vehicles on U.S. roads. The challenge is to expand the market for biofuels beyond the farm states where they have been most popular to date. Flex-fuel vehicles are assisting in this transition because they allow drivers to choose different fuels based on price and availability. The Energy Policy Act of 2005, which calls for 7.5 billion gallons of biofuels to be used annually by 2012, will also help to expand the market.

The growing ethanol and biodiesel industries are providing jobs in plant construction, operations, and maintenance, mostly in rural communities. According to the Renewable Fuels Association, the ethanol industry created almost 154,000 U.S. jobs in 2005 alone, boosting household income by $5.7 billion. It also contributed about $3.5 billion in tax revenues at the local, state, and federal levels.