The world's solar power generating capacity will grow by between 200 per cent and 400 per cent over the next five years, with Asia and other emerging markets overtaking leadership from Europe, a European industry association said on May 7.
Europe has dominated the global PV (photovoltaic) market for years but the rest of the world clearly has the biggest potential for growth, the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) said in its market outlook until 2016. The fastest PV capacity growth is expected in China and India, followed by the southeast Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa in the next five years, said the report distributed at a PV conference in northern Italy.
Global installed PV capacity, which turns sunlight into power, is expected to have risen to between 207.9 gigawatts and 342.8 gw in 2016, depending on the level of political support, from 69.7 gw in 2011, the report said. This year, the world's total PV capacity is expected to rise to between 90 gw and 110 gw, EPIA's Secretary General Reinhold Buttgereit told the conference.
Germany, the world's biggest PV market, is likely to be the main global driver this year, followed by China, the United States and Japan. The pace of growth will slow in Italy, which was the fastest growing solar market in 2011, he said.