The European Photovoltaic Industry Association’s (EPIA) Global Market Outlook for Photovoltaics until 2014 notes that Europe is leading the way with almost 16 gigawatts (GW) of installed capacity in 2009, representing about 70 per cent of the world cumulative photovoltaic (PV) power installed at the end of 2009.

Germany represents the biggest PV market, having installed 3.8 GW of capacity in 2009 for a cumulative total of almost 10 GW.

Italy had the second biggest PV market growth with an additional capacity of 730 megawatts (MW) installed in 2009, followed by Japan with 484 MW and the United States with 477 MW.

Leading the world by installing 2,600 MW of capacity in 2008, Spain installed only 69 MW in 2009. The EPIA attributed the fall to the effects of the financial crisis and a heavy regulatory market cap set up in Spain in 2008.

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“This underlines the imperative need for support mechanisms to be designed in a way to ensure a long-term, predictable and sustainable development of the market and avoid instability and discontinuity in the market evolution,” said EPIA Secretary General Adel El Gammal.

Australia installed 66 MW of PV capacity in 2009. However, the EPIA believes that Australia offers substantial potential as an emerging PV market.

Production increasing, prices decreasing

Solar energy market research company Solarbuzz has reported that the growth in the PV industry generated $38.5billion in global revenues in 2009.

Solarbuzz has also noted that world solar cell production reached a consolidated figure of 9.34 GW in 2009, up from 6.85GW in 2008, with thin film production accounting for 18 per cent of that total. China and Taiwanese production continued to build market share and now accounts for 49 per cent of global PV cell production.

In its contribution to the European Renewable Energy Council’s RE-thinking 2050 report, the EPIA notes that a 20 per cent learning curve factor on PV electricity – meaning that the price decreases by 20 per cent each time cumulated production is doubled – has been observed for the last 30 years.

This is expected to continue through the coming years and decades, driving PV prices down substantially.

Looking forward

The EPIA estimates that annual growth in the PV market in 2010 will be 15percent, increasing global cumulative installed capacity by at least 40 per cent.

Government support mechanisms such as feed-in tariffs have been instrumental in encouraging growth in PV installation and will continue to play a large part in industry development.

The Italian market has a very attractive support scheme which could increase momentum in 2010, says the EPIA report, estimating a further installation of 0.8–1.2 GW of capacity.

Conversely, it says that the recently announced feed-in tariff cuts in Germany are expected to significantly affect development of the industry in the long run.

Developing ‘sunbelt’ countries like India and Brazil have enormous potential for growth in solar power, EPIA Vice President Murray Cameron has said.

As the name implies, sunbelt countries have intense sunlight and most are experiencing a sharp increase in demand for electricity due to economic and population growth.

“Solar energy offers a decentralised solution, easily adapted to poor infrastructure and ready for an expanded energy access to meet fast growing demand,” Mr Cameron said.