The analysis also reported that Europe’s dominance in the utility-scale solar market is slipping, with the USA coming a close second to Germany for new installations in 2012. Both countries added around 1.1GW to their installed capacity out of a global total of nearly 3.5GW – in Germany largely thanks to a late surge in installations to beat changes to their feed-in tariffs.
Supported also by a good year in France, which installed 271MW of new utility-scale PV, and new entrant Bulgaria, which installed 170MW, Europe held about 50% of the world market, well down from the 70% it achieved in 2010.
China and India are also marching up the table, installing 191MW and 266MW respectively, leading a growing contribution in Asia.
According to Wiki-Solar chief Philip Wolfe, 2013 will see the USA overtake Europe in new installations for the first time: “It should also reach the top of the all-time cumulative installations list, as Germany slows after large systems became ineligible for tariffs,” he said. “Much of the new US capacity this year is from projects, which are still under construction. so there’s plenty more to come from there.
“Candidates to enter the top twenty for the first time include Chile, the UK and maybe South Africa, if it can get some of its project pipeline connected,” he added. “We also expect continued growth from Asia, and a greater contribution from South America. It’s good to see other countries picking up the lead, now that Germany and Spain have set the pace.”