Wind Energy

In 2009, the photovoltaics market grew considerably: 8 GW

Latest results from its recently published report ‘The World Market for PV Cells and Modules’ reveal that PV module shipments grew considerably once again in 2009 – by over 25%, to more than 8 GW; however analysis also revealed that new installations grew just 5-10%.

After Q1 and Q2’s disastrous results, many had in fact expected shipments to decline. However, following unprecedented growth in Q3 and Q4, results show that module shipments grew by over 25%.

With 2009 photovoltaic module shipments growing far beyond expectation and installations growing less spectacularly, the natural question to ask is where all of these modules have gone?

“We are seeing delays of two quarters between a module being shipped and it finally being connected to the grid and therefore being counted as an ‘installation’ in official figures – perhaps longer in very large installations,” offered Sam Wilkinson, one of IMS Research’s PV market analysts.

“In addition, we’ve seen that a significant proportion of PV modules were shipped in Q4 in anticipation of an unseasonably strong German market in the first half of 2010. This is likely to have been caused by intense speculation of a cut to the German tariff in July, reversing the country’s normal seasonality” Wilkinson added.

Year -Annual Production- Photovoltaic Cumulative Production
Megawatts
1975- 2- 2
1976- 2- 4
1977- 2- 6
1978 -3- 9
1979- 4 -13
1980- 7- 20
1981- 8- 28
1982- 9 -37
1983- 17- 54
1984 -22- 76
1985 -23- 99
1986 -26- 125
1987 -29- 154
1988 -34- 188
1989 -40- 228
1990 -47- 275
1991 -55- 330
1992- 58- 388
1993 -60- 448
1994 -69- 517
1995 -78 -594
1996 -89- 683
1997 -126- 809
1998 -155- 964
1999- 201- 1,165
2000 -277- 1,442
2001- 371- 1,813
2002 -542- 2,355
2003 -749- 3,104
2004 -1,199- 4,303
2005 -1,782- 6,086
2006 -2,459- 8,544
2007 -3,715- 12,259
2008 -6,941 -19,200
2009(p)-8,056-27,256

Source: Compiled by Earth Policy Institute with 1975-1979 data from Worldwatch Institute, Signposts 2004, CD-ROM (Washington, DC: 2004); 1980-2000 from Worldwatch Institute, Vital Signs 2007-2008 (Washington DC: 2008), p. 39; 2001-2008 from Prometheus Institute and Greentech Media, "25th Annual Data Collection Results: PV Production Explodes in 2008," PVNews, vol. 28, no. 4 (April 2009), pp. 15-18. IMS Research.

www.imsresearch.com