Mercom guides for 43 GW of solar capacity in 2014

Dec 18, 2013 - Around 43 GW of solar capacity will be installed globally in 2014 and China, Japan and the US will be the top three markets, research firm Mercom Capital Group said in an update on Tuesday.

Mercom’s chief executive and co-founder Raj Prabhu said that conditions on the solar market are “as stable as they can be”. Thanks to strong demand, the supply-demand balance has improved, prices are stable and shipments are growing.

For next year China is targeting 12 GW of solar capacity, while Mercom expects it to install some 10.5 GW. The clean energy communications and consulting firm noted that for China the question is not if it will reach its installation targets but when.

The US is expected to add 6 GW of fresh solar capacity in 2014, mainly thanks to growth within the utility-scale and distributed generation segments.

As for the other top market, Japan, Mercom says the signals are quite mixed. The country is seen installing 7 GW next year, but the government is investigating a worrying trend -- there is a huge gap between approved projects under the attractive feed-in tariffs and completed installations.

The other major solar markets in 2014 will be Germany, India, the UK and Italy.

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