The US solar photovoltaic (PV) market more than doubled in the first half to 2012 and is due to outstrip its European counterpart by the end of the year, analysts have said.

Installations grew by more than 120 per cent to reach 1.7GW between January and the end of June, compared to just 750MW in the same period last year, and are set to top 4.3GW by the end of the year, according to a quarterly report published by IMS Research earlier this month.

The report adds that global installations in the first half of 2012 exceeded 13GW, a record amount, with the German and Americas markets leading growth.

However, while the US is expected to be the largest single contributor to global PV growth in 2012, accounting for 40 per cent of new capacity, IMS says the European market is likely to shrink by almost 3GW in 2012, despite the strong start to the year in Germany.

“IMS Research remains optimistic about the potential for the US PV market, and we predict it will grow to at least 3.5GW in 2012 and become the world’s third largest PV market,” said IMS Research PV research director Ash Sharma.

“The longer-term outlook for this market is less certain, although the speed at which it is developing so far in 2012 provides some encouragement.”

But the European slowdown is unlikely to affect an acceleration of global demand in the second half of 2012, which should see a new half-yearly record of almost 18GW driven by markets such as China and Japan, as well as the Americas.

The report notes China recently approved 1.7GW of Golden Sun projects, which must be completed by the end of the year, while Japan’s new feed-in tariff became effective on 1 July and will help spark a surge in demand towards the end of the year.