Today’s PV market is now completely different to that of one year ago when the previous edition of this brochure was published. Thanks to a dramatic fall in the price of solar modules and an equally significant drop in the price of inverters and other components, solar power is now economically viable in many new areas. Grid parity, which has for a long time been a crucial hurdle to cross in terms of market development, has been achieved far more quickly than expected in many countries.
Additionally, PV solar power is now so much cheaper than electricity from concentrated solar power (CsP) plants that the future of these plants is being brought into question before the technology has even gained a strong foothold. at the same time, international technology introduction programs and market distribution have changed dramatically. while in europe almost all feed-in tariff (FIt) programs have been significantly reduced, or as is the case in spain, completely suspended, many countries worldwide have created or adapted market launch programs, meaning that an ever-rising number of countries are installing a continuously higher amount of solar power systems.
