The worldwide market for PV storage is forecast to grow rapidly to reach $19 billion in 2017, from less than $200 million in 2012, according to a new report entitled ‘The Role of Energy Storage in the PV Industry’ from IMS Research, now part of IHS Inc. (NYSE: IHS).

Following the introduction of an energy storage subsidy in Germany, global installations of PV storage systems are forecast to grow by more than 100 percent a year on average over the next five years, to reach almost 7 gigawatts (GW) in 2017 and worth $19 billion. Germany will account for nearly 70 percent of storage installed in residential PV systems worldwide in 2013.However, opportunities also will exist in other regions and applications in the future and Germany’s share of the global market naturally will fall as a result.

The attached figure shows the IHS forecast for global PV storage system market revenue.

China’s domestic photovoltaic (PV) market made a slow start to the year, with just 720 megawatts (MW) installed in the first half, according to the latest research from IMS Research (recently acquired by IHS Inc. (NYSE: IHS)).  However, installations are forecast to surge in the second half, with more than four gigawatts (GW) of PV installations to be completed, taking full year installations to five GW, according to the Q3’12 edition of the China PV Market – Supply and Demand Quarterly  report, released in September. 

Asian electronics giants such as Samsung and LG continue to enter the growing PV market, transferring their expertise in other cost-driven fields and are aiming to capture a major share of the market and IMS Research predicts that Asia’s share of PV cell production will reach nearly 85% by the end of 2011. Although the market is currently rife with fears of a module oversupply, these large Taiwanese and Korean electronics suppliers, such as Samsung, LG, AUO and Taiwan Semiconductor have all recently announced impressive expansion plans for their solar business segments.

Germany’s BELECTRIC developed more than 300 MW of PV systems in 2010, propelling it to the top of IMS Research’s 2010 Global PV System Integrator Rankings. The company (formerly known as Beck Energy) narrowly edged out Germany-based juwi, and ranked five places ahead of 2009 leader Q-Cells International, which saw close to zero MW growth last year.

The Chinese PV inverter market, driven by the introduction of the national FiT, grew by over 400% in 2011 to reach more than 2.5 GW in shipments according to a new report from IMS Research, recently acquired by IHS Inc. (NYSE: IHS). The report also found that the market was highly consolidated in 2011 and the ten largest suppliers, which accounted for over 80% of shipments, included only one non-Chinese manufacturer. The strong growth of the Chinese market and the dominance of domestic suppliers will lead to Chinese manufacturers gaining significant share of the global PV inverter market, the research firm concluded.

Photovoltaic (PV) installations in China are set to reach over 4 gigawatts (GW) in the second half of the year, according to a new report from IMS Research (recently acquired by IHS Inc. (NYSE: IHS)). The latest version of China’s Five-Year-Plan for the PV industry reveals that China’s regulatory and planning body, NDRC, has lifted its installation target from 15 GW to 21 GW by 2015. This positive guideline will further stimulate the rapid growth of China’s PV market from 2012 to 2015, according to IMS Research’s new quarterly report on PV supply and demand in China.

Yingli from China became the largest global supplier of photovoltaic (PV) modules in 2012 based on annual merchant shipments, while previous leader and besieged fellow Chinese producer Suntech Power dropped to fifth place, according to the latest analysis from information and analytics provider IHS (NYSE: IHS).

In a year that proved very challenging for the entire PV industry, Yingli managed to increase its merchant shipment volumes by 43 percent year-over-year to leapfrog Suntech as well as U.S.-based First Solar, the two largest suppliers of 2011. First Solar managed to defend its position as the No. 2 module manufacturer, while Suntech lost significant ground and was displaced to fifth position behind Trina Solar and Canadian Solar. REC, the only Top 10 supplier headquartered in Europe, grew faster than most of its Chinese competitors in 2012. Increasing its module shipments by 31 percent year-over-year to 757 megawatts (MW), REC strengthened its position as a leading player in a highly competitive environment.

The three largest suppliers of PV modules in Q2’11 were all Chinese according to the latest industry report from IMS Research. Suntech, Yingli and Trina Solar collectively grew their shipments by almost 20% over the previous quarter despite difficult market conditions, increasing their market share and furthering China’s growing dominance in this market.

The average production capacity utilization rate of Chinese Tier 2 crystalline PV module manufacturers fell to just 35% in Q4’11 according to the latest quarterly report from IMS Research and is forecast to fall even lower in Q1’12. As a result of high inventory levels and a weak outlook for demand in 2012, many suppliers closed down production lines, or suspended production entirely, resulting in utilization falling to the lowest level IMS Research has recorded. This is a sharp contrast to a year ago, when utilization rates of these suppliers hit 80% in Q4’10.