A new report by NPD Solarbuzz entitled Emerging PV Markets Report: Latin America & Caribbean finds that the region will enjoy a forecasted compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 45%. Mexico, Chile and Brazil will become market leaders due to a combination of net-metering, Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS), and other policies. By 2017 these three countries will be enjoying around 70% of PV demand in Latin America.
“Historically, PV demand was confined to rural off-grid and niche applications, but new renewable energy policies and incentive programs are now opening up the region for strong PV deployment” said Chris Sunsong, an analyst at Solarbuzz. “Set against a backdrop of strong economic growth, expanding energy demand, and increasing electricity prices, the conditions for PV adoption appear particularly attractive.”
PV project applications in the region will amount to over 6GW with the ground-mounted segment capturing 60% of demand. This will stimulate a healthy pipeline of new opportunities for PV component suppliers, developers and installers. Commerical and residential sectors will see their share of PV opportunities increase from 2015 onwards as prices decline and installers encounter new revenue opportunities.
Nevertheless, there are still technical, economic and political obstacles that have to be overcome in order to fully realize long-term prospects according to Sunsong. PV connection and integration procedures are still not clearly defined and there are also grid stability issues to be resolved. Electricity subsidies in Mexico and low natural gas prices in Peru are also delaying PV grid-parity for some end-users and import tariffs across the region are keeping PV costs high.
As PV demand softens in Europe and uncertainty grows concerning access to PV markets in the US, China and India, emerging PV regions will be essential to sustain growth targets.
“Having a successful market-entry strategy for Latin America is now essential for leading PV suppliers before key markets develop in the region and supply-chains and purchasing channels are established,” Sunsong added.
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