Mark LaPedus
EE Times
03/25/2009 12:12 AM

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Spain ranked first, followed by Germany. The United States was a distant third.

What are we talking about? The top solar markets ranked by countries for 2008. (See top solar markets table)

In total, the global solar photovoltaic (PV) market grew to at least 5.5 Gigawatts (GWs) in 2008, compared to 2.4 GW in 2007, according to the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA). This year, experts believe the market could reach up to 7 GW, according to the EPIA (Brussels, Belgium).

In 2008, the installed capacity totaled almost 15 GW, compared to 9 GW in 2007, according to the EPIA.

''Spain represented almost half of new installations in 2008 with about 2.5 GW new capacities, followed by Germany with 1.5 GW additional connected systems in the last year,'' according to the group.

''USA confirmed its trend with 342 MW newly installed capacities, followed by South Korea which registered 274 MW of PV installations over the year. Italy connected almost 260 MW while France, Portugal, Belgium and the Czech Republic made good scores confirming Europe's global leadership in the deployment of solar PV energy,'' according to the group.

Given the current crisis, there are some challenges for 2009. ''In particular Spain recently changed its support scheme, setting-up a cap which will limit the development of the global market in 2009. The PV sector is hoping other markets such as the U.S., Germany, France and Italy will pull the demand,'' according to the group.

The rankings

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