Installed PV Solar Power Could Reach 200,000 Megawatts by 2015, and Grid Parity by 2020

---

Written by Richard Finlayson, Senior International Editor for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--With significant advances in solar power generation and energy storage technologies approaching the point of commercial application, forecasts for the additional power from solar sources are constantly being revised upward.

The European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) (Brussels, Belgium) reports that the photovoltaic (PV) solar power market showed unprecedented growth in 2010, with an increase of installed capacity of more than 230%. For 2010, the capacity of installed PV solar systems reached 16,600 MW, compared to 7,200 MW installed in 2009. The total global capacity of installed solar capacity approached 40,000 MW.

Total installed capacity is forecast to rise to 100,000 MW by 2013 and 130,000 MW through 2015. If the sector is stimulated by appropriate policies, the 2015 total could reach 200,000 MW. This would represent a 500% growth in five years.

Equally significant to the sheer growth of installed solar capacity is the forecast in the EPIA's 'Global Market Outlook for Photovoltaics until 2015' report, which predicts that Europe will gradually reach grid parity by 2020. Grid parity is the point at which renewable energy is supplied at a cost equal to or less than traditional forms of electrical power supply. The report says that parity could be reached in some countries before 2020, based on the aggregate output of small residential and commercial installations.

In the given solar scenario, Europe will maintain its global lead. Depending on whether the scenario considered is moderate or stimulated, the European installed capacity in 2015 will range from 69,000 MW to 108,000 MW. Italy will have 13,000 MW to 26,000 MW of the total installed capacity.

In other world regions North America's estimated installed capacity will range from 24,000 MW to 36,000 MW; China's well be between 15,500 MW and 18,500 MW; and Japan's between 11,000 and 12,500 MW.

Putting a dramatic perspective on the global installed solar PV capacity, Ingmar Wilhelm, the president of the EPIA, said that it represented an annual generation of about 50 billion kilowatt-hours and could meet the total electrical power needs of countries like Greece, Romania and Switzerland.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. IIR's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.