Anti-Dumping - Chinese Solar Panels ? What it means for the Solar Market ?

Between 2007 and 2012, growth of solar photovoltaic (PV) market has been strong in the developed and developing economies at an average growth rate of 55% per year. The solar PV market is expected to stabilize through 2013. One of the primary drivers for continued large scale adoption of solar energy is the reducing panel costs over the years due to continued technological advancements and market forces such as increased demand and production capacities. This has led to solar power costs coming in parity with retail energy prices in certain matured markets like Germany and Australia. Between 2006 and 2012, module costs have fallen from around $4 per watt to less than $1 per watt in most of the mature markets. By 2020, solar PV energy costs are expected to be cost-competitive with other energy sources across matured and emerging markets alike, even after discounting the subsidy infrastructure. The world PV market with revenues of about $80 billion in 2012 is expected to reach up to $140 billion by 2020. The PV supply market has a strong leader in China whose rapid growth in solar PV production capacities has helped ease solar prices across the globe. The current trade scenarios in the US and Europe has led to re-evaluation of the Chinese solar panel prices in countries across this region through additional duties, minimum set prices and volume limits on panel imports. This whitepaper discusses the potential effect of these trade restrictions on the growth of global solar PV market.