14 DAY TRIAL // Douglas County, Colorado-based company IHS has recently released a new report predicting the changes that will take place in the global solar industry this year. By the looks of it, 2014 is going to be a bright, sunshiny year for the global solar energy market.
As Ash Sharma, the company's senior research director for solar puts it, “After two years of a punishing downturn, the global solar industry is on the rebound.”
DigiTimes reports that, according to IHS's report, global photovoltaic installations in the year 2014 will hit 40-45GW.
Four years ago, less than 50% of this energy capacity was installed, which is why the IHS considers the predicted increase in global photovoltaic installations to be a major achievement.
Thanks to sudden interest in harvesting sun power, the demand for photovoltaic energy storage systems will also be on the rise.
More precisely, the IHS expects that, by the end of the year, the number of such installations will be four times greater than it is today, and that their capacity will amount to 734MW.
Financially-wise, the report argues that, because the commercial, the residential and the utility-scale market will all take a liking to solar power, average selling prices will fall by roughly 10%.
Investments made by photovoltaic installations and components producers will probably up by as much as 42%, and hit a whopping $3.3 billion (€2.42 billion).
New factories are expected to open in the Middle East, South America and various regions across Africa.
In 2013, Latin America had 300MW worth of photovoltaic installations up and running. Should the IHS's predictions prove accurate, this capacity will increase to 1.4GW by the end of 2014.
Chile and Mexico will probably be home to most of the new photovoltaic installations.
DigiTime goes on to say that the net-energy metering debate in the United States will continue in 2014, but will not greatly influence the country's photovoltaic industry.
China's and Japan's solar markets will further develop, and stand to become a common international presence. However, China is unlikely to meet its goal to carry out 12GW worth of photovoltaic installations.
IHS also believes that, on the long run, the cost of photovoltaic modules will continue to drop and that, come 2020, they will be 40% lower than they were last year.
Due to the falling cost of such installations, the industry's unsubsidized market has high chances to take a turn for the better.
“Worldwide PV installations are set to rise by double digits in 2014, solar manufacturing capital spending is recovering, module prices are stabilizing and emerging markets are on the rise,” Ash Sharma commented on this report.
Furthermore, “However, challenges remain, including changes in government incentives and policy, an on-going backlash to the rapid rise of renewables and razor-thin margins throughout the solar value chain.”