IHS said a decade-long installations surge – from less than 3GW in 2005 – was fuelled by plunging system costs and the impetus of national efforts to meet the EU’s renewable energy targets.

But IHS Technology senior analyst Josefin Berg cautioned: “In an increasingly regulated environment, the European PV industry now faces new challenges in installing the next 100GW.”

The prospects for European PV have divided opinions, with one prominent analyst declaring that the continent's utility-scale sector is "basically dead" – an assessment others strongly disagree with.

SPE CEO James Watson said the sector wants the European Commission to ensure that “we have the right electricity market design and the right long-term investments signals for solar to flourish” in a “post feed-in tariff...