Clean energy communications and consulting firm Mercom Capital Group is holding firm on its projection of 57.4GW of global installations in 2015 — standing as a growth of 25-30% when compared to other years.
Raj Prabhu, CEO and co-founder of Mercom Capital Group, said: Despite deteriorating macro-economic conditions in China and the recent downtrend in solar stocks, the market is on pace to reach about 57 GW this year.”
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Since Mercom’s last update, China has released its first half installation numbers, which displayed 7.73GW of installed PV — higher than 3GW installed last year during the same timeframe. Mercom reports that China is expected to produce 17GW of installed capacity this year, due in large part to strong demand in the second half of 2015.
Japan’s solar market is slated to install 9.5GW of solar power in 2015, but those totals are expected to decline in the coming years. According to the Japan Photovoltaic Energy Association (JPEA), domestic solar module shipments in the first quarter of 2015 dropped by 41% quarter-over-quarter and around 14% when compared to the same quarter last year.
U.S. installations are expected to reach 8.5GW in 2015, with the country nearing towards a strong stretch of solar installations before the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) drops from 30% to 10% at the end of 2016. Looking towards Europe, the UK solar market is expected to peak at 3GW as solar incentives begin to dissolve. Germany is only scheduled to install 1.3GW in 2015, a 32% decrease from last year.
Meanwhile, the solar sector in India is thriving, with the country set to install 2.5GW in 2015. Solar installations as of August have already reached 1.4GW — already standing as the best year on record for India.