Europe's solar market falls by 30 %

27 March 2015


The global solar market grew slightly in 2014 to about 40 GW, while Europe installed only 7 GW of solar. The UK market was the only bright spot, increasing installations by over 50 % to 2.3 GW.
The European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) has reported that of the 40 GW of solar installed globally in 2014, China, Japan and the USA were the leading contributors for the second year in succession. Europe installed around 7 GW with the UK leading installations for the first time.
The global solar market increased in 2014 by around 8 %, from 37 GW in 2013. The European market, on the other hand, declined by 36 % from 11 GW in 2013. Only the UK, which increased its installations to 2.3 GW from 1.5 GW year-on-year, showed strong growth. 
"At a time when solar power has lower cost than retail and often even commercial electricity, it is hard to understand why governments are not pushing much harder to tap the technology's potential as the European Union is looking for sustainable and secure energy supply," says EPIA CEO James Watson.
"The European solar companies are ready for much more, but we need a stable regulatory framework," said EPIA president Oliver Schäfer. "Solar is now a predictable source of energy - and European policy makers simply have to understand that, and design an energy system based on solar power."
-EPIA's figures are the initial results of the organisation's annual survey on global solar markets. The final results as well as a forecast for 2015 will be published in EPIA's Global Market Outlook in June.



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