Winchester, UK - Market research analysts, IMS Research, Ltd., (Wellingborough, England) reports that both new installations and shipments of PV modules and inverters grew substantially in 2009.

Results from IMS Research's report 'The World Market for PV Cells and Modules' reveal that PV module shipments grew by more than 25 percent in 2009 to more than 8 GW. Analysis of these figures shows that new installations only grew by five to 10 percent. After Q1 and Q2's disastrous results, many had in fact expected shipments to decline. However, following unprecedented growth in Q3 and Q4, results show that module shipments grew by over 25 percent.

"We are seeing delays of two quarters between a module being shipped and it finally being connected to the grid and therefore being counted as an 'installation' in official figures - perhaps longer in very large installations," explained Sam Wilkinson, one of IMS Research's PV market analysts. "In addition, we've seen that a significant proportion of PV modules were shipped in Q4 in anticipation of an unseasonably strong German market in the first half of 2010. This is likely to have been caused by intense speculation of a cut to the German tariff in July, reversing the country's normal seasonality."

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