Veteran solar analyst and Senior News Editor for PV-Tech Mark Osborne has published a new analysis which shows that planned global solar PV manufacturing capacity expansion announcements across the first half of 2017 showed a significant increase over the previous second half of 2016.
On Monday, Mark Osborne released his analysis for the global solar PV manufacturing capacity expansion announcements for the first half of 2017 which showed significant growth over the second half of 2016, and almost reached the record peak set in the first half of 2016 (as seen below).
Global solar PV manufacturing capacity expansion announcements in the first half of 2017 showed a significant increase over the second half of 2016. New plans almost reached the record heights set in the first half of 2016.
Unsurprisingly, the growth in the first half of 2017 was primarily driven by China and the migration to high-efficiency solar cell technologies — as compared to a broader geographical spread during 2016.
Total global PV manufacturing capacity expansion announcements made during the second quarter of 2017 reached in excess of 28 GW (gigawatts) — including more than 2.3 GW of thin-film expansions, more than 21 GW worth of solar cell, and only 4.6 GW of dedicated module assembly announcements.
Geographically, across the first half of 2017, China accounted for 36,710 MW (megawatts), or 70% of more than 50 GW worth of expansion announcements globally. Malaysia and Taiwan also held up their end of the bargain with 8% and 7% respectively. Turkey, a new country into the market, had a total of 2.3 GW of planned new production plants, a 4% share of planned first half expansions.
“The first half of 2017 has produced the second (Q2) and fourth (Q1) largest amount of capacity expansion announcements in the history of the solar industry, driven by global end market demand increases that are set see in excess of 90 GW of installations and 100 GW of shipments this year,” Mark Osborne wrote in summary. “Also fueling the announcements is the significant migration underway to P-type mono PERC solar cells, although much of what was announced is based on multi-phase multi-year plans, inline with announcements made in the first quarter of 2017.”
Author’s Note – All material is from Mark Osborne and PV-Tech, and I have only selected major highlights from their analysis, which can be read in full here.
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