According to a research report recently released by the International Photovoltaic Alliance (ISA), China and the United States have been the countries attracting the most photovoltaic investment in recent years. Since 2015, the photovoltaic industry in both countries has received a total of approximately 50% of investment.

In 2022, investment in the global photovoltaic industry will reach US$308 billion, a significant increase of 36% compared with 2021. However, according to a research report recently released by the International Photovoltaic Alliance (ISA) at its sixth industry conference in New Delhi, India, investment in photovoltaic systems will account for only 11.5% of overall energy investment (US$2.6 trillion) in 2022

The report points out that investment in the global photovoltaic industry is overwhelmingly concentrated in several developed countries in the Asia-Pacific region, followed by Europe and North America. In 2022, Asia Pacific, Europe and North America will account for 55% and 33% of global investment in developing photovoltaic projects respectively. In these regions, these investments are mainly led by economies with mature PV markets, such as China, the United States, Japan, Spain, Australia, the Netherlands, South Korea, Brazil, Vietnam, Germany and India.

China and the United States attract the most PV investments every year, accounting for about 50% of all investments since 2015. Only a small proportion of global PV industry investments are made in emerging and developing economies such as the Middle East and Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean. As a result, these regions lag behind in the market competition for installing photovoltaic systems.

The report points out that in order to accelerate global photovoltaic investment, it is crucial to prioritize developing and underdeveloped countries and regions with huge unrealized photovoltaic power generation potential.

In 2022, investment in installing photovoltaic systems will account for nearly 90% of the total investment in the entire photovoltaic value chain. In terms of market segments, utility-scale PV systems account for the highest share of total PV industry investment at 43%, followed by residential PV systems at 39% and commercial and industrial (C&I) PV systems at 18%.

Private finance is a major contributor to PV investment, accounting for more than 80% of total investment from 2015 to 2022. During this period, the remaining PV investment came from the public sector.

The research paper notes that to ensure a fair and inclusive energy transition, more finance needs to be mobilized from the public sector, as most private financing flows to advanced economie