The solar market grows amid constant international struggles.

During some years solar energy was the unquestionable “Wunderkind” for the power industry until the authorities have scaled down solar energy subsidies and the module price fight started. The  approximately 70% price drop of solar modules during the last years paved the solar story with insolvency filings from famous solar brands. But  the solar power industry has learned to survive and solar is already a crucial component of the global energy market.

Worldwide governments have started to push solar programmes forward. Europe is expected to retain a strong portion of the market share, but as mentioned by EPIA executives “it is also clear from the results of last year that Europe’s domination of the PV market is coming to an end”. In 2011, Europe accounted for more than 70% of the world’s new PV installations; in 2012 this number was around 55%. In 2013 it is almost certain that the majority of new PV capacity in the world will be installed outside of Europe.

Investment efforts are now focusing mainly on USA, China, India, Japan, South Africa, Saudi Arabia and some Latin American countries.

India crossed the 1 (GW) mark of Solar photovoltaic installations in 2012. The total grid connected solar capacity, has increased to 1040.67 MW as on July, 2012. One of the obstacles for financing was the lack of experience and real data available for India. For this reason financing was very expensive or simply not possible. Perhaps the 1 GW solar reality  will make easier the availability of funds for Indian projects.

Also the recent State of the Union speech from President Obama is a renewed commitment to solar energy , “I will direct my Cabinet to come up with executive actions we can take, now and in the future, to reduce pollution, prepare our communities for the consequences of climate change, and speed the transition to more sustainable sources of energy.”

The roll-out has started. After the first phase of uncontrolled market expansion, it seems that the industry can expect a consolidated and constant development globally.