In 2013, enough solar panels were installed across the globe to create about 37GW of solar power, a report released by the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) suggests.
According to Gaëtan Masson, the association’s head of business intelligence, this brings the world’s total solar energy output to 136.7GW up to 2013, which marked an increase of 35pc on the same time in 2012.
Also to come out of the report was – as had been understood from previous reports from organisations, such as EY – is that Asia will be leading the largest clean-tech push in the coming years as it overtakes Europe as the world’s biggest developer of the technology.
As the figures show, while Europe concentrated more than 70pc of the world’s new PV installations in 2011 and still some 59pc a year later, with more than 10GW of new capacity installed in 2013, Europe only accounted for 28pc of the world’s market.
In some European countries, it is claimed, harsh support reduction, retrospective measures, as well as unplanned changes are harming the continent’s expansion of solar technology.
Italy is given as one of the worst examples of this, as it has have fallen from its position as the third-largest solar panel market in the world in 2012 by a margin of 70pc less productivity in 2013.
Germany, too, the world leader by a considerable margin, saw a 57pc drop in productivity in 2013 as a result of regulatory changes.
