The Asia-Pacific region will overtake Europe to become the largest contributor to global solar photovoltaic installed capacity, increasing its cumulative installed capacity from 63.3 Gigawatt in 2014 to 345.33 GW by 2025, according to research and consulting firm GlobalData.

The company's latest report states that this increase, which will occur at a compound annual growth rate of 16.7%, follows a period of highly positive growth, when the region's capacity rocketed from 1.94 GW in 2006 to 63.33 GW in 2014, at a CAGR of 54.6%.

"Commitments to solar energy from the APAC region's governments have resulted in various research and development initiatives and increased solar power plant installations, which will be key to driving the market's future growth," Pavan Vyakaranam, GlobalData's associate project manager covering power said in a statement.

China will be the region's largest contributor, installing an additional 198 GW of solar PV capacity by the end of the forecast period as the country is aiming for renewables to account for 20% of its total energy mix by 2020, the statement said.

Among other emerging markets in the region, South Korea is a major centre for the development of solar technologies and the manufacture of modules, although the country is not a major consumer of solar modules due to its small geographic size.

Vyakaranam further said, "While South Korea's annual additions are small compared to other major markets, its cumulative solar PV capacity is expected to more than treble from 1.7 GW in 2014 to around 6 GW by 2025. This comes as the country has significant production capacity for solar modules and is able to mass-produce modules and supply them to several solar power markets at competitive prices."

The report said that Japan's solar PV capacity will also experience positive growth, from 21.81 GW in 2014 to 52.02 GW by the end of the forecast period, maintaining the country's position as the second largest market in the region.