EPIC, The European Photonics Industry Consortium, released "Report on Photovoltaics: PV Market Overview 2009," distributed exclusively to EPIC members. Worldwide sales of photovoltaic panels reached $US 37.2 billion in 2009, with 7.3 GW PV power capacity installed. The report also examines trends in gigawatt solar installations, thin film and amorphous silicon, and more.

(July 9, 2010) -- EPIC, The European Photonics Industry Consortium, released "Report on Photovoltaics: PV Market Overview 2009," distributed exclusively to EPIC members. Worldwide sales of photovoltaic panels reached $US 37.2 billion in 2009, with 7.3 GW PV power capacity installed. The report also examines trends in gigawatt solar installations, thin film and amorphous silicon, and more.

Click to Enlarge
Installed photovoltaic generation capacity worldwide as of 2009. Germany now accounts for nearly 50% of the total cumulative PV installations in the world. Although China is the leading country for PV manufacture, there are very few PV installations in China at this time.

Worldwide sales of photovoltaic panels reached $US 37.2 billion in 2009. During the same period, the photovoltaic electrical generation capacity installed was 7.3 Gigawatts. EPIC's data are used to show that installations grew by 15% compared to 2008, while revenue for the same period remained constant. Europe remains the leader for deployment, accounting for more than 70% of the PV installations worldwide. More than one-half of all global installations took place in Germany, where individuals rushed to complete installations before the feed-in tariff rates may be lowered in 2010.

In terms of production, 40% more wattage of PV cells was manufactured than generating capacity installed (9.3 Gwatts compared to 7.3 Gwatts).  PV production volume is now dominated by manufacture in China, where about 32% of PV cells were made in 2009. Together, China and Taiwan now account for about 45% of world supply. Production in Europe is about 50% higher than that in Japan. In the space of three years the geography for solar cell production has been totally transformed.

Performance of bellwether companies is an important indicator of the commercial development of solid-state lighting.  In its analysis, EPIC shows that the production of PV modules will reach record levels in 2010 and again in 2011, with crystalline Si and thin-film CdTe leading the way.

Chapters cover Global Energy Consumption and Outlook; Photovoltaic Installed Generation Capacity, Installation Landscape, Buyers, Feed In Tariffs; PV suppliers and Manuacturers; Regional Production Numbers; Thin Film PV; Emerging Technologies: Multi-junction, Dye-sensitized and Concentrator Cells; Silicon Supply; R&D by region and program; and Trends in Thin-film PV, Amorphous silicon (a-Si), PV installations in Germany, and Very large scale (Gwatt PV installations) projects. The photovoltaics forecast covers 2010 through 2011.

For more information, visit www.epic-assoc.com