PV-Magazine: The photovoltaics industry is going through some major changes. A still deteriorating global economic situation, government belt-tightening and a number of corporate incidents have left the industry in an unfamiliar, unhealthy state at the end of 2011. With the end of the year fast approaching, it is time for a change. 2012 will be the year that these awkward market factors will have to be answered and many industry players are, thankfully, already taking stepsto do so. present many Overcapacities, in particular, will companies with significant problems, as will theSolarWorld trade case and continuing falling prices. Increasing diversification and the proliferation of market penetration, consolidation and fast-approaching grid parity are the major upsides that will allow photovoltaics the opportunity to eventually emerge from the very real challenges it is currently facing. "2011 was a devastating year," Matthias Fawer, director of sustainable investment at Bank Sarasin, tells pv magazine. "Except for one short period at first. There was a big boom and high expectations, but by the end of April that was all gone. After April everything went down." Compared to the 170 percent growth rate for new photovoltaic installations in 2010, 2011 was not as strong for the industry. Newly added capacity in 2011 is estimated to have reached 23.8 gigawatts (GW), up 34 percent from 17.7 GW in 2010. But 2012 is not expected to see as much growth. Predictions from Sarasin say that the year should see around 25 GW installed. Sam Wilkinson, a photovoltaics research analyst for IMS Research, also tells pv magazine that they expect installations to remain flat in 2012.Read Full: PV in 2012: The year of truth: pv-magazine
