Solar PV will remain a reliable source of clean energy despite climate of uncertainty

After many years of unfettered growth and innovation, the solar PV industry is now going through a challenging period, with shifting market dynamics and changing political support creating a climate of uncertainty. 

Some key questions will probably play a role in determining how market evolution takes place:

• Policy: The PV market remains in most places a policy-driven one, linked to changing political environments and commitments from government in a rather limited set of countries; with the right decisions to create smart and sustainable support schemes for PV, markets can continue to grow
  
• Competitiveness: PV is rapidly becoming competitive, in terms of LCOE (Levelized Cost of Energy), with other power sources – and in some countries in some segments, it already is; grid and especially market integration challenges will however increasingly hamper future PV deployment
  
• Industry consolidation: The current world overcapacity in PV modules is having a severe effect on companies all along the solar value chain; how this plays out will have an effect on market development
• Trade: trade disputes in parts of the PV value chain are creating uncertainty that may affect markets forecasts in the next few years 

Renewed political resolve is needed to restore investor confidence, remove bottlenecks and maintain a reliable but dynamic framework for the remuneration of PV. But under even the most pessimistic scenario, PV will continue to increase its share of the energy mix in Europe and around the world, becoming a reliable source of clean, safe and infinitely renewable energy for all.