The amount of PV module shipment in Japan reached 2.57GW in the second quarter of the nation’s fiscal year (FY) 2014, according to figures published by the Japan Photovoltaic Energy Association (JPEA).
This includes 48MW of exports, leaving domestic demand at 2.52GW. This represents a 22% increase over the year prior and a 28% gain over the previous quarter. In the past three quarters, domestic PV module demand represented a total of 7.26GW. This puts estimated domestic module demand for calendar year 2014 at around 10GW, in the middle of the range predicted by Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
Japanese companies continue to dominate shipments and were in charge for 1.83GW of the 2.57GW shipped. However, not all of these products were made in Japan. Figures show that 1.61GW of PV products was produced outside the nation and imported, or 64% of total module demand.
Demand for thin-film dropped sequentially to 219MW, accounting for less than 10% of the total market. How the large majority of thin film was produced in Japan in previous quarters, suggesting that Solar Frontier continues to dominate this portion of the market.
Source: Japanese PV module demand booms to 2.52 GW in most recent quarter