Host of manufacturers express confidence in rebounding UK solar market

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email

A trio of solar manufacturers have expressed strong confidence in the UK solar and storage markets as the country begins to realise post-subsidy opportunities.

Speaking at this week’s Solar & Storage Live exhibition in Birmingham, the UK, inverter manufacturers GoodWe, Growatt and Hoymiles all doubled down on their UK commitments. 

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Unlock unlimited access for 12 whole months of distinctive global analysis

Photovoltaics International is now included.

Not ready to commit yet?
  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Unlimited digital access to the PV Tech Power journal catalogue
  • Unlimited digital access to the Photovoltaics International journal catalogue
  • Access to more than 1,000 technical papers
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

GoodWe pointed to module price cuts, comfort with subsidy-free business models and an unexpected side effect of Brexit as having all helped its UK business.

Speaking on the second day of the exhibition, Raj Sidhu, the firm’s UK MD, said the mood of the industry had changed through 2018.

“There’s a certain amount of optimism in the UK market. After the subsidy cuts two years ago the industry dropped by about 80%. We saw our sales flatline for a year and then increase very slowly. But this year, because of that optimism, and people looking at future subsidy-free models that are making more and more sense, we’ve seen an increase in business,” he said.

“That growth is not just with the energy storage products but with the PV products and commercial systems as well,” added Sidhu.

Hoymiles meanwhile said it was investing in the UK solar market “for the long term”.

In addition to its major presence at Solar & Storage UK, the company has a Rotterdam logistics hub for European customers, a series of training events in the UK and has now shipped the first container of its MI-1200 microinverters to Kent-based installers Ecolution.

“They compared lots of inverter solutions and from Q4 this year they will start to use the Hoymiles MI-1200 microinverter in a big way. We just sent the first container to them, and local end users will enjoy Hoymiles safer and smarter MLPE solar solution soon,” said Andy Tang, sales director at the company.

“As a global brand, Hoymiles regards the European market as one of our key strategic markets and the UK is no doubt one of the most important markets in Europe,” he added.

Growatt however, said the residential storage market in the UK – widely talked up on the exhibition floor as having significant potential for 2019 – would be its prime focus.

Felix Fang, marketing director at Growatt, said the requisite conditions were now in place for domestic battery systems to make headway. 

“Storage will be the future market for us in the UK, not in future years but in the future months. We already have orders in place in the UK with distributors, largely for the SPH hybrid inverters from 3-6kW,” he said.

Read Next

Premium
August 28, 2025
US solar companies could potentially pay “tens of billions” of dollars in retroactive duties on products imported from Southeast Asia between June 2022 and June 2024, following a decision from the US Court of International Trade (CIT).
August 27, 2025
Long-term procurement decisions from the US solar industry could support US solar manufacturing, regardless of changes to federal tax credits, PV Tech has heard.
Premium
August 27, 2025
American Clean Power Association’s MJ Shiao assesses the state of US PV manufacturing in the wake of recent policy developments.
August 26, 2025
US-based solar module manufacturer Bila Solar will include US-made steel module frames in its 550W dual-glass products.
August 21, 2025
JA Solar's CTO, Zi Ouyang, discusses the company's latest module technologies and why the future is tandem.
August 18, 2025
Australia’s sole PV producer Tindo Solar has launched a new range of n-type TOPCon modules aimed at rooftop applications.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Solar Media Events
September 16, 2025
Athens, Greece
Solar Media Events
September 30, 2025
Seattle, USA
Solar Media Events
October 1, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
October 2, 2025
London,UK
Solar Media Events
October 7, 2025
Manila, Philippines