Global solar PV capacity will approach 295 GW in 2016, led by China, says GlobalData

The global solar photovoltaic (PV) market is set to increase its installed capacity from around 225 Gigawatts (GW) in 2015 to 294.69 GW in 2016, and will see China remain the world’s largest market for annual solar PV installations, according to research and consulting firm GlobalData. The company’s latest report states that China installed 15.13 GW of new installed PV capacity in 2015, with cumulative capacity reaching 43.48 GW by the end of 2015. The country’s PV installed capacity has increased around 13-fold since 2011. Ankit Mathur, GlobalData’s Practice Head covering Power, explains: “In the first quarter of 2016, China added a total of 7.14 GW of PV capacity, of which 6.17 GW accounted for solar PV power plants, and 970 Megawatts (MW) for distributed PV. The installation can be attributed to the country’s efforts to boost green energy and adjust the energy mix dominated by coal. ….