Annual Solarbuzz Report Reviews 2003 World PV Market

World solar photovoltaic market installations jumped to 574 megawatts in 2003, representing growth of 34 percent over 2002, according to "Marketbuzz," the annual PV market report recently issued by Solarbuzz Inc., a San Francisco-based solar energy consultancy. Among the top three country markets, Germany led with a 76 percent growth. In combination, the Japanese, German and U.S. markets accounted for 75 percent of the world market.

The major driver of world market growth was the strong grid-connect sector, up 57 percent to account for 77 percent of the market. In 2003, Japan's market installed 219 megawatts; Germany, 145 megawatts; and the U.S. market installed 66 megawatts, spurred on by grid-connect applications in California. World solar cell production rose 40 percent in 2003 to 742 megawatts. Japanese manufacturers increased their share to 49 percent of world production, while U.S. production fell to 12 percent.

Multicrystalline silicon cell technology continued to take market share, now almost two-thirds, from monocrystalline silicon. Sharp Corp. consolidated its position as the largest cell manufacturer, approaching 198 MW of production—a level three times higher than the second largest manufacturer, Kyocera Corp.

copyrighted by ConnectPress, Ltd. All rights reserved