Growth opportunities in solar PV operation and maintenance market to reach approximately $18.4 billion in 2017

IRELAND: Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Growth Opportunities in Solar Photovoltaic Operation and Maintenance Market: 2012-2017" report to its offering.

The global solar photovoltaic (PV) operation and maintenance (O&M) market, which experienced robust growth in 2011, is expected to continue growing rapidly and reach approximately $18.4 billion in 2017 with a CAGR of approximately 43 percent over the next five years (2012-2017).

Lucintel's research indicates that the growing interest of nations in developing clean energy is expected to drive more and more installations of solar PVs across the globe, thereby providing an impetus to the global solar PV O&M market. The crystalline O&M market is expected to capture three-fourths of the market size while the thin-film O&M is forecast to account for the rest.

As noted in the study, the provision of extended warranty options for a nominal charge by the original equipment manufacturers is affecting the growth of the solar PV O&M market. The fragmented installation base creates hurdles for proper O&M services due to the limitation in geographic reach of service providers.

The major portion of the solar PV O&M market is driven by the balance of systems and not by PV modules. As such, increasing efficiency of PV modules (crystalline as well as thin-films) adversely affects the O&M market, as these require smaller areas of land with a decreased balance of system components.

Lucintel's research indicates that, with solar PV O&M expenditures being relatively high in Europe, the European market is attractive for O&M service providers. Europe, having more solar PV systems installed with relatively lower solar radiation, is expected to be the largest market of solar PV O&M in the coming years.