Huawei Technologies decided to enter the PV inverter market, bringing its ICT know-how and hardware to a market already burdened by overcapacity and declining margins. In a few short years, instead of floundering, Huawei soon became the market leader in China.
This year saw Ghana not only install the largest solar project in East and West Africa, but also a major 30MW module manufacturing facility near its capital, Accra, in what is a major milestone for the upstream solar sector across Africa. PV Tech visited the plant to understand some of developer 3SIL's thinking behind location and business.
SolarEdge's Lior Handelsman explains some of the thinking and development processes behind HD Wave, which the publicly-listed Israeli company believes represents a significant leap forward for inverter technology. The product was launched at the beginning of the year, when Handelsman said in another interview for PV Tech that inverters can now "evolve at the speed of electronics, not mechanics".
The ease of due diligence on inverters and increased technical awareness among the investor community has helped ease bankability issues surrounding Chinese inverters in recent years.
Sungrow Power Supply Co is showcasing its move into the emerging 1500 volt market with its SG3000HV-MV turnkey container solution. The system enables more modules to be connected, dramatically reducing system costs and power generating losses.
SolarEdge and SMA’s launches of inverters compatible with Tesla’s Powerwall and LG Chem’s new range mark a “growing trend” towards higher voltage batteries for residential PV systems, an IHS analyst has said.
Global shipments of PV inverters will reach 90GW by 2020, valuing at more than US$7.1 billion, according to GTM Research’s latest report, 'The Global PV Inverter and MLPE Landscape 2016'. This represents an average annual growth rate of 11% between 2016 and the end of the decade.
A new study by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) highlights the continued need to focus on balance of system (BOS) cost reductions for solar PV power plants to continue to expand as a key global renewable energy source.
