July 05, 2018 Source: Photovoltaic Runner Innovation Forum

After the introduction of the “531” policy of photovoltaics, the domestic PV market has suffered a huge impact. With the recovery of the European PV market and the rise of emerging markets, it is an inevitable choice to find new market demand.

Asia market

The Asian solar market has maintained a relatively stable development. Four years after its introduction, the Japanese government made its first revision of the Energy Basic Plan, which guided the country's medium- and long-term energy policy guidelines, at yesterday's cabinet meeting. With the rapid decline in the cost of renewable energy generation in the world, the problem of higher prices compared with thermal power generation is gradually being solved. The Japanese government claims to achieve “main power supply” for renewable energy such as solar energy and wind energy, and actively respond to global changes. The entry into force of the warm international framework "Paris Agreement".

In early June, the Indian government announced that it would raise its solar installation target for 2022 from the previous 175 GW to 225 GW. In fact, according to data from Mercom India, the first quarter of 2018 was the strongest quarter for the growth of the Indian solar industry. As of the end of March, the Ministry of Renewable Energy of India released a total of 13 new large-scale solar PV tenders, totaling nearly 12GW, an increase of 68% over the full year of 2017. At the same time, due to China's domestic policies, the potential oversupply situation and the resulting decline in component prices may drive further expansion of the Indian market, coupled with the withdrawal of the Indian Solar Manufacturers Association from China, Malaysia and Taiwan. A petition for anti-dumping duties on imported components and batteries, Mercom expects new installed capacity this year to reach 8 to 9 GW.

Latin American market

As one of the strongest emerging markets in the past two years, Latin America has nearly doubled on average every year. The Mexican Federal Financial and Administrative Justice Court announced in mid-June that it would cancel the 15% tariff on solar PV module imports introduced by the Mexican Tax Administration (SAT) in 2015, which is expected to boost the installed capacity of approximately 1 GW of PV. The markets such as Brazil and Argentina are also in the period of rapid development of photovoltaics. In addition to policy support, their huge advantages in solar energy resources have improved the economics of solar energy systems.

European market

The European solar market has begun to recover after a period of low development. Spain and Italy have already joined the national alliance to develop a 35% renewable energy target in 2030 due to the new government's support for renewable energy. In June, the Spanish Photovoltaic Association reported that about 30 GW of large-scale renewable energy power generation projects are being planned, and with the support of the new government, it is expected that there will be 300-400 MW of new PV bidding projects this year. In early July, Sweden announced a substantial increase in 2018 solar development budget funds, reducing administrative pressure and shortening application time. Sweden's solar market may have a good development this year, not only because of the increase in budget, but also because the Swedish government has taken a series of measures, such as canceling solar taxes on commercial photovoltaic projects, canceling rooftop photovoltaic building permits, and announcing construction. The initiative of the megawatt solar park.

African market

The African region is rich in light resources and has strong demand. The entry of a large amount of international funds has promoted the development of local renewable energy. Recently, the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and the African Investment Fund signed a letter of intent to jointly launch the “Desert Power” program, which aims to install 10 GW of solar energy and provide electricity to 250 million people in Africa. Overall, overseas markets are heating up this year. The installed capacity of India, Latin America and the Middle East will be able to compensate for the impact of the domestic market decline.