IEA PVPS Report: Trends in Photovoltaic Applications 2016

21st edition of the international survey report on Trends in Photovoltaic (PV) Applications up to 2015, provided by the IEA PVPS Programme.

The “Trends Report” is one of our flagship publications and a worldwide reference regarding the global photovoltaic market development. The unique series of “Trends Reports” has covered the transition of PV technology from its early and expensive niche market developments in the 1990s to the recent large scale global deployment and increased competitiveness.

In contrast to 2014, 2015 has seen an impressive growth and acceleration of the global market deployment with about 50,7 GW of additional installed capacity, 26,5% above 2014, of which about 40 GW were installed in IEA PVPS member countries (2014: 34 GW). As in 2014, China, Japan and the USA lead this important growth, accounting for 33 GW of installed capacity in these 3 countries alone. 8 countries have installed more than 1 GW while another 7 countries have markets above 300 MW. The globally installed total PV capacity is estimated at roughly 228 GW at the end of 2015.

Although the price reduction for PV systems has continued its trend for a slower decline in 2015, this year (2016) shows evidence of a more rapid cost reduction, in parallel with a trend towards higher overcapacities in the industry.

Concerning PV generation costs and more precisely recently contracted power purchase agreements (PPAs), new record values of below 3 USDcents/kWh have been announced, confirming what is achievable today under very good market and solar resource conditions.

The other side of the coin is the observation that large parts of the global PV market (78%) are still driven by financial incentives, accompanied by an increasing share of selfconsumption or net-metering (15%) and about 6% of the market coming from competitive tenders. Learn all about the details of this exciting development by reading through our 21st edition of the Trends Report!