European Solar Photovoltaic Module market value to decline by 2015

The European solar photovoltaic (PV) module market value is forecast to decrease by the end of next year, dropping from $6.9 billion in 2013 to $4.4 billion by 2015, at a negative Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 20%, says a new report from research and consulting firm GlobalData.

The company’s report* states that this decline is due to an anticipated reduction in solar PV module annual installations, along with the falling price of crystalline and thin-film modules.

Despite this setback, Europe’s installed solar PV capacity is estimated to grow from 79.7 Gigawatt (GW) in 2013 to 202.3 GW by 2030, at a CAGR of 5.6%. In 2013, Germany and Italy led the region with a combined total of 68% of its solar PV installed capacity. However, their share is expected to decrease gradually to around 52% by 2025.

Prasad Tanikella, GlobalData's Senior Analyst covering Power, says: “In Europe, Germany was the largest consumer of solar PV modules in 2013, with an annual installation of 3.5 GW. In spite of a Feed-in Tariff (FiT) structure that is subjected to a digression step on a monthly basis, Germany’s annual installation was the highest in Europe, because the FiTs kept the business profitable.

“Italy, however, went from being the largest consumer of modules in 2011 to the second largest in 2012 and 2013, with a sharp fall in annual installations due to FiT reductions. Even though its solar PV capacity increased to around 18 GW in 2013, its installations are expected to fall even further over the coming years,” the analyst concludes.