Solar photovoltaic electricity empowering the world 2011 foreword The European Photovoltaic Industry Association and Greenpeace International are pleased to present this 6th edition of the report " Solar Generation: Solar Photovoltaic Electricity Empowering the World ". This report aims to provide a clear and understandable description of the current status of developing Photovoltaic power generation worldwide, and also of its untapped potentials and growth prospects in the coming years. During 2010, the Photovoltaic (PV) market has shown unprecedented growth and widespread use of this environmentally friendly and distributed source of power generation. On a global basis, new PV installations of approximately 15,000 MW have been added during 2010, taking the entire PV capacity to almost 40,000 MW. This result is even above the optimistic forecast contained in the report, and it also translates into investments of over 50 bn€ in 2010, again ahead of the report's forecast. The most impressive result is however the number of installations and therefore of individuals, companies, and public entities participating in this development: nearly 2 million single PV installations produce photovoltaic power already today. The cumulative electrical energy produced from global PV installations in 2010 equals more than half of the electricity demand in Greece, or the entire electricity demand in ten central African countries.* The strong growth in PV installations is currently driven in particular by European countries, accounting for some 70% of the global market, and accompanied by the promising key markets of North America, Japan, China and Australia. At the same time, the PV arena has importantly widened its number of participating countries and also increased their specific weight. Major new areas for development lie also in the Sunbelt region, with Africa, Middle East and South America just starting to create new growth opportunities, almost always dedicated to covering local demand. 3 foreword Installing thin film modules. The major competitive advantages of PV technology lie in its versatility, i.e. the wide range of sizes and sites, resulting into proximity to electricity demand, in the value of its production profile concentrated during peak-load hours, and in its enormous potential for further cost reduction. PV technology has reduced its unit costs to roughly one third of where it stood 5 years ago, thanks to continuous technological progress, production efficiency and to its wide implementation. The trend of decreasing unit cost will continue also in the future, just like in comparable industries such as …