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“Renewable energy technologies are far further advanced than many may believe: solar photovoltaic (PV) and on-shore wind have a track record of successful deployment, and costs have fallen dramatically in the past few years,” Alex Thursby, chief executive of the National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD), said in a report published this month. “In many parts of the world, indeed, they are now competitive with hydrocarbon energy sources.”

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Over the past few years, more than 50 percent of new investment in electricity generation capacity has been from renewable sources, with around $260 billion a year invested in renewable-energy technology over the past five years, said the report, which was prepared for NBAD by the University of Cambridge and PwC.

The cost of solar PV is down more than 80 percent since 2008 and modern wind turbines produce around 15 times more electricity than in the 1990s, it said………

The development of cost efficient electricity-storage technology may be the missing link on wider adoption, Deutsche Bank said.

“Solar plus storage is the next killer app that could significantly accelerate global solar penetration,” it said, adding it expects “significant progress” on improving the cost within five years.

—By CNBC.Com’s Leslie Shaffer; Follow her on Twitter @LeslieShaffer1 http://www.cnbc.com/id/102510242