2008 was record year for solar PV sales

DUBLIN, IRELAND: Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Solar PV Report Ed 6 2009" report to its offering.

2008 was a record year for solar PV sales, with 5.7 GW of new capacity added. Spain shot into top place, with 2.7 GW added, the largest volume of annual sales achieved by any country ever, followed by Germany with 1.5 GW. Between them they accounted for three quarters of world sales.

However, Spain's pre-eminence was short-lived and in the wake of the financial crisis the Spanish government announced a cap on the feed-in subsidy for solar PV installations at 500 MW in 2009.

This will not only put a brake on Spanish sales but will reduce the global solar PV total in 2009, we believe by at least 50 percent. The Spanish renewable associations are looking ahead at least two years before recovery starts in Spain.

The slowdown in solar PV sales has had some good outcomes however. The shortage of silicon, which has been restraining development, is no longer a major issue and by the time recovery starts new supply should be in place.

Secondly, prices of solar modules are coming down. Thirdly, small companies in the supply chain are merging and being taken over, consolidating the industry.

The report, monitors the progress of two new players in the international market, China and Korea. Chinese solar PV companies have developed very fast and a number conducted IPOs in China and other countries in 2007 and 2008.

A mushrooming production capacity for solar cells and modules has been accompanied by growing production and re-cycling of silicon. This is affected by the global slow-down but the Chinese industry is already well placed for the future. Domestic demand in China has not kept pace and it is an export oriented industry to date.

With the cut-back in Spain, Germany, followed by Japan and the USA still remains the global leader, but new countries are entering the market and the industry is spreading beyond its historical areas.