MOSCOW, September 17 (RIA Novosti) — Over the next five years, India, China and Japan are expected to have the highest growth rates in cumulative photovoltaic (PV) panel installations, with China set to pass the 100 GW mark by 2018, Electronic Component News magazine reported.
At the same time, China, Thailand and the United Kingdom are forecast to have the highest 10-year compound annual growth rates.
China is now the only major solar market in the world that can service its own market purely through domestic supply, its installed PV panel capacity accounts for 20 percent of global PV system installations.
Market growth in the United States will be slower than in Asian markets, but by 2018 it is expected to be the third-largest market globally due to the industry's continuous growth in the country over the past few years.
European markets, such as Germany and Italy, are expected to have lower 10-year growth rates due to decreased demand.
According to Solarbuzz, in order to create further overall industry growth, the primary focus should be on cost reductions to make solar energy more competitive against other renewable energy sources.
A PV system is a power system designed to supply usable solar power by means of photovoltaic panels. It consists of several components, including solar panels to absorb sunlight, and a solar inverter to change the electrical current from direct current (DC) to alternating current (AC). It may also feature a solar tracking system that orients a payload toward the sun to improve performance.
