Recent analysis by Frost & Sullivan says revenues from the global residential, commercial, industrial and public project solar market will reach USD $179.13 billion in 2020.
The company also predicts installed solar capacity for the same sectors will grow from 50,780 MW to 76,600 MW by that year.
Frost & Sullivan’s report states solar PV is gaining momentum as a globally irreversible mainstream energy source and will reach grid parity globally by 2020.
“Pro-solar incentives and the recently made pledges at the COP 21 summit will ensure that the market for solar PV continues to grow exponentially over the next 5 years,” said Energy & Environment Research Analyst Pritil Gunjan.
Mr. Gunjan stated grid integration of renewables, investment in residential battery systems and industrial/commercial energy storage initiatives will be other market enablers.
The activity will keep related sectors busy; including raw material suppliers, solar panel and cell manufacturers, balance of system (BOS) equipment suppliers, system integrators and installers.
Frost & Sullivan’s report, Global Solar Power Market – 2016 , says Asia’s solar market share will grow to 64.1% by 2020; with China, India and Japan collectively accounting for more than 80% of all installs.
North America will also continue to experience strong growth, thanks to the extension of the USA’s investment tax credit (ITC). US President Barack Obama also recently announced a goal of 1 gigawatt of solar installed for low and moderate income families in the US by 2020.
The report says North America will have around 20 million residential prosumers by 2020.
Growth in Latin America and Africa is also expected to be strong and the report notes Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand are all actively reducing their dependence on fossil fuel based electricity generation with cleaner sources of power.
However, the future isn’t so bright for Europe’s markets. Frost & Sullivan believes the region will experience setbacks as a result of withdrawal of subsidies and incentives.
“Huge overcapacity, coupled with price decline of solar modules, will see suppliers struggling to make profits,” states the report.
The UK solar sector has been suffering badly over the last year or so as a result of feed-in tariff cuts. It was recently reported up to 18,000 solar jobs may have disappeared in the last 12 months. A report published earlier today puts the number at an estimated 12,500 positions gone – around one third of previous total employment in the UK solar industry; with more losses expected.
