Solar photovoltaic (PV) capacities in the twenty-seven nations of the European Union (EU-27) grew 120% to reach a total of 29.3 GW during 2010, according to a new analysis by EurObserv’ER.

The figures released in the company's April 2010 "Le journal du photovoltaïque" show 7.41 GW installed in Germany, 2.32 GW installed in Italy and 1.49 GW installed in Czech Republic during 2010.

"For the first time, Europe’s photovoltaic sector installed more new capacity than any other renewable electricity source over the year," stated EurObserv'ER.

"EurObserv’ER estimates that 13023.2 MWp of photovoltaic modules were connected to the grid in the European Union, which is a 120.1% year-on-year rise (from 5918.2 MWp in 2009)."

These figures do not include installed systems waiting to be connected to the grid, which EurObserv'ER estimates to be several GW if data coming out of nations including Italy is considered.

Europe remains the market leader as PV costs fall

The company notes that Europe accounted for over 80% of new global PV capacity, far ahead of markets including Japan (nearly 1 GW) and the United States (800 MW).

The report also notes that PV costs continue to decline, with German installation costs falling below EUR 3 / watt (USD 4.3 / watt). The report further notes that German costs have declined further to EUR 2.55 / watt (USD 3.6 / watt) in early 2011.

However, the report also expresses concern that falling costs have caught incentive systems unprepared, and resulted in "speculation and wanton expense to consumers".

EurObserv'ER notes that this presents a great danger to the industry as nations may follow Spain's example in implementing strict cuts to feed-in tariff programs.

Czech PV concentration rivals Germany's

The report shows the significance of the Czech PV market in 2010, particularly given the nation's small size (78,900 square kilometers) and population of only 10.7 million persons.

With 1.49 GW of PV installed in 2010, the Czech Republic now rivals Germany for the greatest concentration of PV, with 186 watts for every resident of the nation, versus Germany's 212 watts/inhabitant.

This is well above the nearest rival, Spain (82.8 watts/inhabitant) and the EU-27 average (58.5 watts/inhabitant).

The report also notes that PV will supply more than 3% of Germany's power in 2011. Germany plans to expand to expand to 52 - 70 GW of new capacity by 2020, which will supply 10% of the nation's electrical needs.

2011-05-23| Courtesy: EurObserv'ER | solarserver.com © Heindl Server GmbH

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