Total solar installations to exceed 100 GW in next five years

WELLINGBOROUGH, UK: Cumulative Solar PV installations will top 120 GW by the end of 2014 according to IMS Research’s recently launched “Global PV Demand Database”. This new report also revealed the following key findings:

* Annual photovoltaic (PV) installations will grow steadily at a CAGR of more than 20 percent between 2011 and 2014. In these four years, some 80 GW of new PV capacity will be added globally.

* EMEA’s share of global PV installations will fall from 79 percent in 2009 to 48 percent in 2014 as major European markets stagnate and Asian and North American market growth accelerates. EMEA’s PV market is predicted to remain dominated by just three countries which will account for more than 60 percent of new installations in 2014.

* Asia’s PV market will grow at a CAGR of 45 percent over the next five years, installing around 10 GW of new capacity in 2014. Strong growth is predicted for both Japan and China and by 2014, China will be the world’s largest PV market, installing more than both USA and Germany.

* By 2015, there will be at least 25 countries installing more than 100 MW annually. The UK will be one of the fastest growing markets globally (in percent terms) with more than 1 GW of new PV capacity added over the next five years.

According to PV research director Ash Sharma: “The PV market remains highly volatile and cyclical in nature. Market maturity is still some years away and although investment in the industry presents large risks, there are also major potential rewards to be reaped as the long-term outlook is very positive with over 100 GW of new PV capacity being added in the next five years.”