Solar energy is racking up major increases in installed capacity year after year.
2009 was a bad year for solar energy, because the growth rate slowed to 24% which was a disappointing pace.
According to PVNews, 2010 saw a growth increase of 141% over the previous year, more than doubling the amount of new solar installations from 7.2 GW to 17.5 GW.
It seems the weak performance of 2009 was due to economic uncertainties.
Chinese manufacturers have contributed greatly at this increase with cheaper crystalline solar cells.
China’s market has little to no environmental regulations in place and the production of solar cells is a toxic business.
The thin film solar cells have the potential to be much cleaner to produce than crystalline cells and are largely manufactured in the west.
Thin film solar cells still only make up about 5% of the solar market.
Nine of the top fifteen producers of PV cells are based in China or Taiwan.
In the next years will be a significant challenge on solar market and subsidies are critical for the expansion of solar power.
Investment continues to occur at a rapid pace, and the solar industry has shown a remarkable ability to change with the times and continue expanding.