On April 10^th IHS released its top 10 module rankings by merchant shipments. The below release provides IHS’ rankings for the top 10 module suppliers by production.

iSuppli & IMS Research are now part of IHS. Please use IHS in all references to information contained in this release.

 Solar energy will not become an integral part of the energy supply system in Europe until suppliers, including private residences, have unlimited access to the energy grid. In practice, this would mean that they could supply their self-produced solar energy to the grid at a profitable rate 24/7. This is not yet the case today, mainly due to the limiting price and supply agreements. Consequently, the development of smart grids and energy storage systems will prove decisive in terms of the growth of solar energy in the coming years.

Following a sustained stretch of severe declines from February 2012 through the end of the year, solar polysilicon pricing has stabilized in early 2013, with prices steady in April and early May, and expected to rise slightly during the following months.

The worldwide market for PV storage is forecast to grow rapidly to reach $19 billion in 2017, from less than $200 million in 2012, according to a new report entitled ‘The Role of Energy Storage in the PV Industry’ from IMS Research, now part of IHS Inc.

Following the introduction of an energy storage subsidy in Germany, global installations of PV storage systems are forecast to grow by more than 100 percent a year on average over the next five years, to reach almost 7 gigawatts (GW) in 2017 and worth $19 billion. Germany will account for nearly 70 percent of storage installed in residential PV systems worldwide in 2013.However, opportunities also will exist in other regions and applications in the future and Germany’s share of the global market naturally will fall as a result.

The attached figure shows the IHS forecast for global PV storage system market revenue.

IHS (Englewood, Colorado, US) reports that the average selling price for Chinese crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar photovoltaic (PV) modules in the European Union increased 4% in March 2013, the first increase since January 2009.

The first two generations of photovoltaics, wafer-based and thin film devices, have seen mass market adoption in recent years, with different technologies characterized by varying degrees of success. Crystalline silicon platforms are by far the most successful, holding over 80% of market share, but are currently characterized by low profitability. Thin films have found success in markets where large land areas are available (e.g. solar farms) or in parts of the world where weather conditions limit the power output of silicon modules (e.g. humid, hazy regions).

As smart grid market drivers shift from U.S. stimulus funds to operational efficiencies, utilities are demanding that vendors prove a business case to justify smart grid expenditures to their investors and regulators. While some utilities are still initiating advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) and distributed generation projects to meet requirements, the lack of federal mandates in smart grid and renewable energy means that in order to predict where the industry is going and which companies will succeed, it is truly essential to understand how utilities are approaching the smart grid market.

Solar photovoltaic (PV) industry module revenues are forecast to decline 20% in 2013 to $20.5 billion from $25.5 billion in 2012. While revenues will remain below 2012 levels during 2013 and 2014, they are set to increase from 2015 onward. According to the NPD Solarbuzz 2013 Marketbuzz report, PV module revenue is expected to reach $32 billion by 2017.

The European Forecasting Network (EFN) is a research group of European institutions, founded under the auspices of the European Commission, and currently partly financially supported by the European University Institute (EUI, based in Florence, Italy), which is coordinating the report under the responsibility of Prof. Massimiliano Marcellino.

The report provides updated forecasts and analyses of the macroeconomic situation for the Euro area.

EMEA Energy, Mining & Utilities (EMU) M&A activity saw 91 deals worth €20.2bn in Q1 2013, down 63.4% from Q1 2012 (€55.2bn) and a decrease of 74.2% from the previous quarter (€78.2bn). It represented the lowest Q1 since 2010 by both deal value (€16.7bn) and deal count (90).

The Global Energy Prize, one of the world’s most prestigious awards recognizing outstanding achievements across the world in energy research and technology, on Thursday announced this year’s two honorees for their important contributions and research in rechargeable batteries and physics.

The rapid expansion of renewable technologies is one of the few bright spots in an otherwise bleak assessment of global progress towards low-carbon energy, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in an annual report to the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) here today.

Energized by a surge of shipments in Asia, the global photovoltaic (PV) inverter market in 2012 bucked weak worldwide solar industry conditions to expand by 5 percent and break the $7 billion level for the first time.

Yingli from China became the largest global supplier of photovoltaic (PV) modules in 2012 based on annual merchant shipments, while previous leader and besieged fellow Chinese producer Suntech Power dropped to fifth place, according to the latest analysis from information and analytics provider IHS (NYSE: IHS).  

The generation of electricity from renewable sources supplied around 70% of consumption. This is the data highlight of national electricity consumption recorded in the first quarter of 2013. These values are primarily due to the existence of favourable weather conditions for hydroelectric and wind energy generation.  

Thirty-eight megawatt-size solar power plants, representing 537 MW of installed solar capacity, were installed in the US in the first quarter of 2013, according to the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s March Energy Infrastructure Update. During the same period last year, developers installed 61 PV and solar thermal power plants with a combined capacity of 264 MW. The majority of newly added solar capacity was installed in the first two months of 2013 – just seven solar power plants, representing 44 MW of capacity, were installed last month. These seven power plants consist of NRG Energy Inc.’s 26 MW Borrego Solar Project in San Diego County, California and another six PV plants ranging in size from 1.9 to 6 MW. Source: US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Seasonality and policy incentive deadlines from the end-market in China drove global solar photovoltaic (PV) demand down to 6.2 gigawatts (GW) in 1Q’13, down 23% Q/Q. Over the next four quarters, China will account for more than 20% of global PV market demand, ranging between 0.9 and 3.6 GW, according to the new NPD Solarbuzz Quarterly report, but its volatile PV demand cycles will create new supply challenges for leading PV manufacturers.

Global photovoltaic (PV) installations are forecast to exceed 35 gigawatts (GW) in 2013, equivalent to growth of 12 percent, according to recently released analysis from IHS (NYSE: IHS). IHS also reaffirmed its earlier prediction that global PV installations surpassed 30 GW in 2012, with final analysis showing that installations, in fact, grew 14 percent to reach 31.4 GW last year.

Seasonality and policy incentive deadlines from the end-market in China drove global solar photovoltaic (PV) demand down to 6.2 gigawatts (GW) in 1Q’13, down 23% Q/Q. Over the next four quarters, China will account for more than 20% of global PV market demand, ranging between 0.9 and 3.6 GW, according to the new NPD Solarbuzz Quarterly report, but its volatile PV demand cycles will create new supply challenges for leading PV manufacturers.

The 34 European countries covered by the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E) could have a total cumulative installed solar capacity of 200 GW by 2030, according to a new report from the association. In the report ENTSO-E, which represents 41 grid operators in 34 European countries, examines the European grid network based on mid- and long-term time horizons to determine how well the system will cope with generation and demand in the future. The association provides two scenarios – the Slow Progress scenario and the Green Transition scenario – for how the power system will develop up to 2030.

Solar photovoltaic (PV) demand from the Emerging Asia Pacific and Central Asia (EAPCA) region is forecast to exceed 3 gigawatts (GW) by 2017, based on findings in the new NPD Solarbuzz Emerging PV Markets: Asia Pacific and Central Asia Report. Compared to 723 MW of PV demand in 2012, this represents a strong compound annual growth rate of 28%.

A remote island off Sasebo city in southern Japan has won permission to construct one of Japan’s biggest solar power plants, the Nagasaki newspaper said.

Construction of a 400-megawatt solar power facility is aimed at creating new income sources and securing employment of 150 jobs in the island as the population ages and declines, the newspaper said, citing city council member Hirofumi Oiwa. Photovolt Development Partners GmbH and other partners will set up a venture in May to proceed with the project, the paper said.