As announced in PV Power number 10, the third edition of the PV Power Systems International Survey Report (ISR) is now available.

This latest update of Trends in PV Power Applications in Selected IEA Countries provides a snapshot of the status of PV Power systems applications and markets in the 20 IEA  PVPS participating countries as at the end of 1997. In combination with the historic information gathered during the course of preparing previous editions of the ISR, this represents a very reliable assessment of the latest trends in PV systems development around the world. The individual country data that comprises the full report were gathered through the PVPS national expert's network.

In common with the previous ISR, the latest edition differentiates PV applications into four main categories: off-grid domestic, off-grid non-domestic, on-grid distributed and grid-connected centralized systems. Only those applications with a single system installed capacity of 40 Wp or more are included in the survey.

Throughout the 20 participating countries, 65 MWp of new PV capacity was installed during 1997. This took the cumulative installed capacity in the reporting countries to 304 MWp by the end of 1997, representing an average annual growth rate (1990-1997) of 25%.

In terms of cumulative installed PV power to date, off-grid systems account for the majority (57%) of the reporting countries capacity. Key markets for off-grid applications include Australia, France, Italy, Mexico and the USA, where off-grid systems account for between 59% and 97% in total installed PV power. In France and Mexico, the priority is for domestic applications, whereas the Australian market is dominated by non-domestic systems. Italy and the USA each have similar proportions of domestic and non-domestic systems.

1997 was a significant year for grid-connected PV applications, as new grid-connected capacity exceeded off-grid installations for the first time. Indeed two-thirds of newly installed capacity was for on-grid use, and the large majority of this was in the form of distributed systems, mainly driven by strong national programmes in Germany and particularly Japan.

It is important to reiterate that the survey does not cover non-PVPS participating countries and as such does not include the large developing country markets, particularly for solar home systems and other remote off-grid uses. The ISR supply-side analysis, which shows the total production from PVPS countries to be 100 MWp (i.e. 50% greater than what was actually installed within PVPS regions), serves to highlight this discrepancy. It is estimated that the cumulative installed capacity world-wide amounted to 600-700 MWp at the end of 1997.

The USA and Japan both reported in 1997 module production to be around 35 MWp, while Australia, Spain and Germany contributed between 6 and 8 MWp. It should be noted that this representation relates only to module encapsulation rather than cell production, in order to avoid double counting; several manufacturers produce cells, which are shipped to other countries for encapsulation.

It is estimated that 85-90% of world-wide PV module production takes place in the PVPS reporting countries. In 1997 this provided some 9140 full-time jobs, and generated revenues of 1 133 million USD. The majority of jobs were concentrated in Japan (1900), Germany (1800) and the USA (1750), and these three countries respectively accounted for 21%, 10% and 36% of the total industry revenue in the reporting countries.

Ex Works module price (weighted in line with module production in each country) varied considerably from one country to the next. For example, the price for large orders (over 100 kWp) in Australia averaged 2,9 USD/Wp, compared to 6,1 USD/Wp in Switzerland, though the latter price accounted for non-standard building integrated products.

Across the PVPS countries, the average price for large orders was 4,1 USD/Wp, representing a 16% reduction since 1995. Small orders ranged from 4,5 USD/Wp in Germany to around 7 USD/Wp in Switzerland and Denmark, though again the higher price was for custom modules. The typical price for small orders was 5 USD/Wp. Customers purchasing through dealers can typically expect to pay 20% above these factory prices.

Turnkey system prices are more difficult to assess on a comparative basis as size, location, technical specification and so on can vary considerably from on system to the next. The ISR presents a price breakdown by application for off-grid systems in the ranges 40-1000 Wp and 1-4 kWp, and for on-grid applications in size ranges 1-4 kWp, 10-50 kWp and above 50 kWp. The range of system prices for 1997 and comparison with 1995 figures are shown in the table.
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Range of Turnkey PV power system prices in USD for different applications in the reporting countries

	1997	1995
Off-grid 40-1000 Wp	8,4-52,8	14-41
Off-grid 1-4 kWp	8-35,7	10-28
On-grid 1-4 kWp	5-20	6,9-20
On-grid 10-50 kWp (Ground)	6-10,8	7,5-30
On-grid 10-50 kWp (BIPV)	5,8-21,4	7,5-30
On-grid larger than 50 kWp	5,8-35,7	7-13,7

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The 1997 ISR presents a great deal of text to complement the fundamental market information summarized here, including overviews of the various national demonstration and field-test programmes, budgets for R&D and promotion measures, a summary of the key module manufacturers in the reporting countries, and information on inverter, balance-of-systems and installation companies. Key factors, which are likely to have an impact on future deployment of PV technology, such as policy initiatives, standards issues, public and utility perceptions of PV and new industry developments are also summarized.

PVPS Programme objective from now on is to provide even more timely updates of the ISR, though in a more streamlined format, to maximize the value of the data collected. The next issue of the ISR summarizing the position up to the end of 1998 will be available later this year.

Information
To order copies of the third ISR, Report IEA  PVPS 1-06: 1998, or for more information about future editions contact your national Task 1 representative.

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