New data released by the analysts at Wiki-Solar confirms what many would already guess — Germany is still the largest of the world’s top three utility-scale solar photovoltaic markets, running ahead of China and the US.
Image Credit: Solar Field via Wikimedia Commons
Maybe somewhat surprisingly, though, China has worked its way up to a very close second. With regards to projects over 10 MWp, China is now at 2,806 MWp, compared to Germany’s 2,846 MWp. The US is in a somewhat more distant third, with 2,106 MWp installed. Germany is also leading the pack with regards to projects of over 5 MWp capacity.
And while there have been some improvements, and “media hype,” Japan is currently running at 17th. The Japanese market, though, is predicted “to experience a 120% growth spurt in 2013 with a total of 5 GW installed capacity expected this year,” as PV-Tech notes, which would potentially make it “the second largest market of 2013, behind China.”