The International Energy Agency's Photovoltaic Power System (IEA PVPS) program says that after two years of market and industry consolidation, the global photovoltaic market grew in 2013.
In total, about 36.9 GW of PV capacity were installed in the 24 countries reporting to the IEA PVPS and the other major markets. This raised the total installed capacity in IEA PVPS countries to 123.2 GW, with another estimated 10.8 GW of capacity installed in other major countries.
The Asia Pacific region represented around 59% of the global PV market in 2013, the report says. While Europe still represented 59% of this global market in 2012, its market share fell to 28%, a consequence both of a reduced regional market and a growing global PV market. The PV market in the Americas exceeded 5 GW for the first time.
The most significant growth was observed in China, which IEA PVPS says has progressed quickly. Last year, China connected 11.3 GW of PV systems to its grid. The second largest market in 2013 was Japan with 6.9 GW. The U.S. was third with 4.75 GW. The top European market was Germany with 3.3 GW.
The annual PV contribution to electricity demand has passed the 1% mark in 15 countries, the report says. Italy tops the list with at least 7.8%. Overall European PV contribution amounts to around 3% of demand. Australia, Japan and Israel have also passed the 1% mark, but larger consumers of electricity such as China or the U.S. will require more PV capacity to reach this threshold.
According to the report, countries that are not part of the PVPS program represent at least an additional 10.8 GW, mostly in Europe. India has installed more than 2.2 GW.
At present, the IEA PVPS estimates 134 GW represents the world's total minimum installed PV capacity as of the of 2013. Some additional GW of installed capacity in the rest of world – non-reporting countries, off-grid installations, etc. – could bring the total installed capacity to more than 136 GW in total, the report concludes.
The IEA PVPS participating countries are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, the U.K. and the U.S. The European Commission, the European Photovoltaic Industry Association, the Solar Electric Power Association, the Solar Energy Industries Association and the Copper Alliance are also members.
The full IEA PVPS report can be downloaded here.
