The Global Market for Photovoltaics

September 04, 2012

Wellesley, Mass.– According to a new technical market research report, THE GLOBAL MARKET FOR PHOTOVOLTAICS (EGY014H) from BCC Research (www.bccresearch.com), global revenues from solar cells and modules totaled nearly $38.7 billion in 2011 and should decline to $28.6 billion in 2012. Total revenues are expected to reach $78.1 billion in 2017 after increasing at a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22.3%.

The market for solar cells and modules can be broken down into four regions: North America, Europe,Asia, and the region made up of emerging countries.

North America, exhibiting the highest CAGR of any region at 33.5%, is expected to increase from $3.1 billion in 2012 to $13.2 billion in 2017.

Europeholds the largest share of the market and should increase from nearly $16.7 billion in 2012 to $35.1 billion in 2017, a CAGR of 16.1%.

Asiais expected to increase from nearly $8 billion in 2012 to $27 billion in 2017, a CAGR of 27.6%.

The emerging countries region should rise from $850 million in 2012 to $2.7 billion in 2017, a CAGR of 26.1%.

The photovoltaic (PV) industry will change as dramatically during the forecast period of this report as much as it has during any other period in the past three decades. A variety of forces are shaping the sector, with some pushing in opposite directions.

Currently, two in particular are having a dramatic effect: the macroeconomic situation in Europe, the biggest market for PV, and the coming to market of vast quantities of hydraulically fractured, or fracked, natural gas in theUnited States, which will make it more difficult for large solar farms to compete in the marketplace. These two factors will work against increased penetration of PV. 

A third factor, however, first forecast by BCC Research in 2010, is the probability that photovoltaics will reach grid parity for more than half of the residential and commercial customers in developed markets during the period covered by this report, quite possibly by 2015, which will work to overcome the negative effects of economic problems and supplies of natural gas.

This report will help its readers:

• Determine the current status of the global market for photovoltaics
• Assess growth potential over the next five years and the future direction of the PV market
• Determine market impact from sources such as the surge in global demand for energy, incentives for solar sales and installations, and declining costs of photovoltaics
• Analyze the PV industry on a global basis, including manufacturing capacity and consumption by various regional markets.

This study will be of interest to those who manufacture solar cells, modules, inverters, racking mounts, tracking systems, polysilicon and interconnection materials, as well as those involved in the sale and distribution of concentrated photovoltaic systems and the building of integrated photovoltaic systems. It will also be of interest to those companies engaged in nanotechnology and materials for flexible substrates. Additionally, utility companies, construction firms, regulators, legislators, and policy advocates will find its contents to be of value.

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Global Markets and Technologies for Photovoltaic Systems( EGY014H )
Publish Date: Sep 2012    

Data and analysis extracted from this press release must be accompanied by a statement identifying BCC Research LLC as the source and publisher. For media inquiries, email press@bccresearch.com or visit www.bccresearch.com/media to request access to our library of market research.