For many people it will be a surprise to find Spain so high in the list of global solar PV markets. We estimate that in 2004 Spain was already the fourth solar PV market in the world, only after the Japanese, German and the North-American markets.
For solar PV companies the Spanish market is attractive because of the following reasons:
Fourth solar PV market in the world in 2004 (based on the estimated number of installed Megawatts per year);
Provided that the Spanish authorities continue the current subsidy programs, growth will continue due to attractive combination of subsidy scheme and an unbeaten feed-in tariff program;
Excellent irradiation levels are causing short solar PV return-on-investment times;
New attractive market with relative low levels of competition;
Different possibilities for solar PV installations (e.g. ground mounted);
Incentives secured for 3 years minimum (150 Megawatt of PV power).
