The figures focus on utility-scale installations of 10MW and above, and do not include smaller and rooftop systems where the power is used locally rather than fed into the grid.

“Germany retained its lead by installing half a gigawatt of new utility capacity since June” commented Wiki-Solar's Philip Wolfe. However, “its recent tariff changes are bound to lead to a slow-down in coming months”.

Meanwhile the focus is shifting to North America, where solar power is approaching grid parity; and to emerging economies like India, China and South America, said Wolfe, whose book on solar power stations was also published last month. “The USA’s pipeline of projects in development suggests that it will overtake Germany during the course of next year”.

The top ten markets for utility scale solar: