Feb 3 2010
Very high end-users' inclination towards adopting clean energy technologies, mainly in Japan and South Korea, for electrifying homes and business enterprises has led to a tremendous market for solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. Furthermore, strong government support through policies, feed-in-tariff schemes and other deployment programs have resulted in massive adoption of solar PV systems both for on-grid and off-grid application in North Asia. Solar PV is likely to be the most preferred renewable energy technology in the region to combat climate change.
New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, North Asian Solar PV Systems Market Outlook, finds that the market earned revenues of $1,951.6 million in 2009 and estimates this to reach $3,582.5 million in 2016 due to massive adoption of solar PV systems as result of an attractive feed-in-tariff scheme, the global decline in prices, and robust government support for the use of solar power.
"The presence of attractive feed-in-tariff in Japan and South Korea and the introduction of the Renewable Energy Development Act in Taiwan are expected to propel the market for on-grid solar PV system installations for both distributed and centralized solar power plants," says Frost & Sullivan Program Manager Suchitra Sriram. "As the countries have fixed targets to reduce emissions as per the Kyoto Protocol, several measures are underway to achieve it."
However, market penetration of solar PV systems has been challenged by the high cost of installation that makes it unaffordable for an average end-user. Thus, market growth is heavily dependant on government support in terms of policy guidelines, tax credits, subsidies or rebates. Moreover, the well developed power infrastructure deters the use of solar PV systems in some urban areas.
Besides high installation costs, the credit crunch due to the global financial crisis affected the economic viability of many solar power projects in the region. Small companies with weak cash flows were severely affected because of the slowdown. This resulted in major markets such as South Korea introducing a cap on annual installations which to a certain extent impacted the regional market revenues in 2009.
In order to sustain the growth momentum of solar PV systems market in North Asia, it is pertinent for governments to continue their support for this industry till the price reaches grid parity. Higher budget allocation for research and development, decrease in production costs and improving end-users' awareness about the benefits of this technology would pave way for large-scale commercialization. This in turn, has the capacity to attract new companies into the market.
Overall, North Asian countries have led the Asia Pacific region in terms of early adoption of solar PV systems as well as in developing a very strong production base that caters to world demand.
"Sustaining this growth momentum calls for involvement across all the stakeholders from the government, manufacturers, research institutes, system integrators and end-users," says Sriram. "Solar PV systems' ability to alleviate carbon emissions combined with long-term reduction in maintenance costs demonstrates the immense market potential of this technology."