Market prediction company IMS Research believes that global solar PV installations could reach 24 GW in 2011, up from 19 GW in 2010, being set to rise by 24 percent. European installations however only account for 3 percent of this rise. Italy is expected to overtake Germany as the world's largest solar PV market.

According to the company's Q4'11 PV Demand Database, PV installations exceeded 8 GW in the first half of the year and will probably reach 15 GW during the second half. The figures seem to confirm the company's prediction that solar PV installation would soar during the latter part of 2011, however they warn that the true state of the market is contentious and largely depends on the size of the Italian market. 4.5 GW was installed in Italy in 2010 and that figure looks set to increase to 6.8 GW in 2011. However, the overall state of the European market is so far unimpressive because of falls in Germany and the Czech Republic amid slow-downs in other European countries. In contrast, the Asian and American markets could account for 85 percent of the global growth in solar PV installation in 2011 with the trend continuing into 2012. Europe's share of installations will nevertheless drop to 50% next year.

Despite the company's prediction that only four of the world's top 10 solar PV markets will be European, it also states that the UK will be one of these, becoming the 8th largest solar PV market. The cuts to Feed-in Tariffs announced recently have created a surge in demand, something which helps to explain UK performance.