PV shipments which include solar modules and inverters in IMS Research’s latest assessment of the PV industry have rebounded strongly in the second quarter of 2009, with over 1GW of PV shipments. However, for the first six months of 2009, shipments were down 34% compared to the same period last year. The collapse of the Spanish market was at the root of the decline, the market research firm said.
“Although shipments were sequentially up by more than 80% in Q2, year-to-date sales and shipments are still considerably down on 2008, commented Ash Sharma, Research Director at IMS Research “In addition, the PV market is strongly seasonal, and Q2 is typically much stronger than Q1. However, in 2007 and 2008, Q2’s sequential growth was somewhat lower, at 75% and 57% respectively.”
However, Sharma is still forecasting that new PV installations will be 25% down on 2008, with approximately 4.5GW installed.