Photovoltaic crystalline and thin film capacity, production, shipments and inventory, 1982?2019; past and future trends

From 1982 through 2014, Photovoltaic shipments grew by a compound annual rate of 31% despite stop/start incentives as well as significant downward price pressure and strong competition from conventional energy and other renewable technologies. Despite its long history, the global photovoltaic industry is young, and continues to experience accelerated rates of growth common to emerging technologies and industries. Its metrics remain widely misunderstood. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the various components that make up the global solar industry and discuss how these metrics work in concert. These metrics are commercial capacity, annual production, annual shipments and annual supply side inventory. The goal of this work is to accurately size the industry by these metrics as well as illustrating regional and technology shifts over time.