BSW-Solar (Bundesverband Solarwirtschaft e.V., “The German Solar Industry Association” in English) stated that the amount of PV panel installation in Germany increased around 3.3 GW last year, less than half of the highest record of 7.6 GW in 2012. The main reason was because subsidy cut went faster than the speed of PV system price drop.
As the European governments attempt to reduce PV subsidies and set limits to ground-mounted PV power plant projects, the PV market size in Europe keeps shrinking recently. The European Photovoltaic Industry Association predicted that the amount of PV system installation within the region may be reduced from 17 GW in 2012 to less than 10 GW in 2013. As a result, German PV manufacturers have started to ask Angela Merkel to slow down subsidy-cutting.
In 2012, Germany was on top of the global PV market. However, demands from Asia and the United States have been overpassed over Europe. This year (2014), PV panel demands would mainly come from mainland China, Japan and USA.
