Search sponsor
According to the latest report form IMS Research, PV installations in the US in the first half of the year have reached 1.7GW, a growth of over 120%, compared to the same period a year ago. With utility-scale projects typically back-end loaded, the market research firm expects installations in the Americas to reach nearly 4.3GW in 2012.
“The Americas market, led by the USA was unseasonably strong in the first half and did not show any significant slowdown resulting from the anti-dumping duties,” noted Ash Sharma, IMS Research PV Research Director.
As a result of the massive increase in US demand, the country is expected to become the third largest PV market in 2012, accounting for 40% of new capacity growth.
“IMS Research remains optimistic about the potential for the US PV market, and we predict it will grow to at least 3.5 GW in 2012 and become the world’s third largest PV market. The longer-term outlook for this market is less certain, although the speed at which it is developing so far in 2012 provides some encouragement,” added Sharma.
In its ‘Q3 PV Demand Report’, IMS Research predicted that the boom in the US is expected to support the global PV market to grow by at least 3GW in 2012, despite the European market declining by 3GW this year, which is being driven by FiT cuts in key markets, namely Germany and Italy.
Indeed, global demand is predicted to actually accelerate in the second half of 2012, driven by China, Japan and the Americas. IMS Research predicts installations will hit a new half-yearly record of almost 18GW in the second half of 2012.
With installations expected to have exceeded 13GW in the first half of 2012, the global PV market is expected to exceed at least 31GW at year-end, up from approximately 27GW in 2011.
