Track-record of achievements
Terawatt PV Research was established by Finlay Colville in 2025. Finlay has been studying the dynamics of the solar photovoltaics (PV) industry for more than two decades and is widely recognised as a leading market analyst in the sector today.
He managed various market research teams between 2010 and 2025 at Solarbuzz and PV-Tech. In 2023, Finlay was the recipient of the Solar & Storage Live ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’.
His introduction to the industry overlapped with the first major investments into volume manufacturing in the late 1990s, as the sector took its initial steps to evolve from a scientific-driven community to a commercial-led industrial sector.
During this period, Finlay has written more than 750 market research articles and delivered more than 500 technical presentations at leading global conferences and workshops, in addition to bespoke consulting engagements with over 100 major companies that have shaped the growth of the sector.
With a focus on technology, manufacturing, finance, supply-chains and corporate strategy, Finlay has been the driver behind many of the industry’s leading market reports and technology-based conferences over the past 20 years covering the major themes of the day, including: PV manufacturing, technology, roadmaps, production equipment, materials supply, capital expenditure, supply-chains, traceability, module bankability, book-to-bill ratios, benchmarking and ratings reports.
Finlay’s quest to understand the evolution of physics, science, technology, manufacturing and industrial strategy – and subsequent impact on the solar PV industry – has been an underlying and constant motivation for his engagement with the sector. He has been inspired by countless individuals globally, including many of the leading figures in solar from the past 50 years.
Professional background
Finlay graduated from the University of Glasgow in 1990 with a BSc. in Physics, followed by a PhD in Laser Physics from the University of St Andrews in 1994. This was followed by postdoctoral studies and various commercial R&D roles, until joining Coherent Inc. in 1999
During a ten-year period at Coherent, Finlay was engaged in roles across technical sales, marketing and business development, including analysis of the burgeoning solar segment.
After Coherent, Finlay joined Solarbuzz in 2010, where he became the head of market research, overseeing a global team of solar analysts, many of whom contributed to the leading market research report to the sector at the time, Marketbuzz.
Following the company’s acquisition by IHS Group, Finlay joined PV-Tech in 2015, establishing a new research business unit within the company that would subsequently launch numerous leading market reports and technology-focused conferences globally.
Shortly after PV-Tech’s owner, Solar Media, was acquired by Informa PLC, Finlay set up Terawatt PV Research.
Motivation and vision
Terawatt PV Research is the working platform for activities by the company’s founder, Finlay Colville, in the field of solar photovoltaics (PV) from 2025 onwards, with the web portal forming a compendium of information capturing this journey.
The focus of the company is to share knowledge on different aspects, themes and topics within the PV industry that Finlay has been engaged with, stimulated by, and curious about, for more than 30 years.
The company name, Terawatt PV Research, was chosen specifically to focus attention on the imminent arrival of what will potentially be the PV industry’s crowning achievement; the realisation of annual production of solar PV modules at the terawatt level and beyond.