Solarbuzz has released a new annual report on the global photovoltaic (PV) market. According to the report, the global solar PV deployments have attained a record growth of 18.2 GW in 2010, an increase of nearly 139% over 2009.
The PV market achieved worldwide revenues of $82 billion in 2010 over $40 billion in 2009, totaling an increase of 105%. In the last one year, companies operating in the PV supply chain raised over $10 billion in debt and equity.
According to Solarbuzz, the United States, Japan, Czech Republic, Italy and Germany were top five photovoltaic markets in terms of size in 2010, accounting for more than 80% of global supply. European countries accounted for 14.7 GW, representing 81% of global supply in 2010. The top three countries in the European market are Germany, Italy, and the Czech Republic, which installed 12.9 GW in total in 2010.
The United States and the Japanese markets attained 96% and 101% growth, respectively. The global solar cell production attained 20.5 GW in 2010, an increase of 9.86 GW from last year. Total thin film production represented 13.5%. Manufacturers in Taiwan and China contributed 59% of total worldwide cell production, an increase of 49% from 2009.
Solar Cell producers, Sutech Power and JA Solar, shared the top position in 2010, while First Solar held the second place.