But these bullish figures — which followed a three-year decline — mask short-term uncertainties and an expected “mini-hibernation” in utility-scale solar.
The main driver of growth in European PV last year was the accelerated build-out in the UK, which by December had reached a cumulative base of 8.755GW, a fraction ahead of the 8.75GW of onshore wind turbines installed.
Yet, the steep feed-in tariff cuts made by the Conservative government late last year, which come into effect in April, mean the recent upswing in the Europe-wide solar market could just be a “dead cat bounce”.
“It
