Statistics and Facts about the Global Solar PV Industry

Global solar photovoltaic capacity has grown from around five gigawatts in 2005 to a little under 230 gigawatts in 2015. In that year, cumulative solar PV installations reached some 35.7 gigawatts in Germany alone. By 2016, the residential solar PV market in the United States is projected to be worth around 4.7 billion U.S. dollars.

In 2013, the global market for solar photovoltaic manufacturing was sized at just over 90 billion U.S. dollars, with China being the largest market for solar cells and modules. China was home to seven of the world’s ten leading solar module manufacturers in 2015. In 2011, the country’s share of the global photovoltaic market reached 50 percent, thus eclipsing the revenue generated by Germany’s PV industry, which saw major companies leaving the market over the past four years, including Sunfilm and Q-Cells. As a result of the price war initiated by Chinese firms, the United States imposed anti-dumping tariffs against several Chinese manufacturers in 2012, while the European Union set a price floor on solar modules at 56 euro cents (or approximately 74 U.S. dollar cents) in 2013.

• Cumulative solar PV capacity in the U.S. 2013
• Ranking of solar PV countries 2012
• U.S. anti-dumping tariffs against Chinese solar cell and PV module manufacturers and exporters