Mixed Greens: Asia to lead next solar boom by Giles Parkinson

The European Photovoltaic Industry Association says the world's solar power generating capacity will grow by between 200 and 400 per cent over the next five years, with Asia and other emerging markets overtaking leadership from Europe. Reuters reports that the EPIA predicted that the fastest PV capacity growth is expected in China and India, followed by the southeast Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa in the next five years. It predicts global installed PV capacity to rise to between 207.9 gigawatts and 342.8 GW in 2016, depending on the level of political support, from 69.7 GW in 2011.

Germany, the world's biggest PV market, is likely to be the main global driver this year, followed by China, the United States and Japan. The pace of growth will slow in Italy, which was the fastest growing solar market in 2011. Reuters said China is expected to add between 3GW and 5GW this year with new annual capacity rising to 4.5-10GW in 2016, and a total capacity of 39.1GW, just shading the US, where capacity is seen rising up to 37.1GW.