I'm not sure that graph contradicts OP's narrative. It clearly shows European PV capacity rapidly growing from almost nothing to near-present levels from 2006

I'm not sure that graph contradicts OP's narrative. It clearly shows European PV capacity rapidly growing from almost nothing to near-present levels from 2006 to 2012, with the rest of the world accounting for only a tiny fraction. This corresponds to a time period when solar prices dropped dramatically: https://samsetproject.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/fall-in-solar-prices-chart-1.png https://samsetproject.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/fall-in-so... Then, once PV prices were cheap, the rest of the world bought a ton of cheap PV capacity. Now, this doesn't prove that the reduction in price was caused by European PV spending, but the data certainly is strongly compatible with that claim.