
Chapter 3
PV Today and Forever
Wolfgang Palz
World Council for Renewable Energy
3.1 Solar Power 2009–10: A Wealth of Achievements
3.1.1 The Global PV Markets 2009–10
The detailed market developments described in the previous
chapters can be summarised as follows:
• In 1978, global PV shipments for terrestrial applications
reached 1 MW with a turnover of US$30 million.
• In 1988, the global market was 33 MW with a turnover of
US$300 million.
• By 1998, the global market had reached 155 MW.
• By 2008, it had reached 5000 MW, or 5 GW.
It is interesting to note that in the decade from 1978–88 markets
increased 35 times, and in the decade 1998–2008, they incr