Solar inverter replacement market set to top 8.7GW in 2020 – IHS Markit

IHS Markit believes the PV inverter replacement market will increase by around 40% in 2020, creating an 8.7GW need outside new global installations. Image: IHS Markit
Market research firm IHS Markit believes the PV inverter replacement market will increase by around 40% in 2020, creating an 8.7GW need outside new global installations.
New analysis by the firm shows that Europe has become the largest replacement market for PV inverters, due to early adoption rates in Germany's residential market initially and later in the residential, commercial and industrial and utility-scale segments across Spain, Italy and UK.
String inverters typically used in the early phase of the European residential market had life expectancies of 5 to 10 years, and so are accounting for a large percentage of the unit replacement market.
However, with a large utility-scale installed base in Europe, central inverter replacement could become a larger market on a megawatt basis, with options to adopt advanced central inverters with energy storage capabilities or adopt the latest in string inverter technology.
According to IHS Markit, the greatest need for inverter replacements lies in Germany, Italy and Spain, which together accounted for over 70% of replacement demand in the EMEA region.
Asia was said to be the second largest region for replacement inverters, driven by China.
Demand is also expected to increase in Japan, which was said to have the largest installed base of residential installations that were more than 5 years old.
However, replacement demand in the Americas region was forecasted to increase at a CAGR of 130% and account for 12% of global replacement demand in 2023.
Presently, PV inverter manufacturers that are publicly listed rarely offer breakdown figures for replacement sales in their financial statements.
Image credit for this story's homepage picture: ABB
Revealing the most bankable and reliable PV module suppliers for utility-scale deployment in the US
Jan 20, 2021 GMT
Virtually all PV modules for large-scale utility-based solar sites are imported to the US, especially from Chinese companies using manufacturing sites across Southeast Asia. This puts extreme pressure on US site developers, EPCs and investors, in understanding fully the differences between the companies offering imported PV modules How credible are the companies supplying the products? What is the financial health of the parent entity? Where is the module produced, and is this undertaken in-house or through third-party OEMs? What is the supply-chain for the module sub-components including wafers and cells? And then, how will the modules perform in the field, and is it possible to gauge reliability levels benchmarked against competitors? This webinar will provide insights from two of the leading experts in PV module manufacturing, supply, performance and reliability: Jenya Meydbray of PV Evolution Labs and Finlay Colville from PV-Tech. The 1-hour session will include presentations from Jenya and Finlay, and then a brand-new supplier scorecard matrix that combines the key outputs from PVEL's Module Reliability Scorecard and PV-Tech's PV ModuleTech Bankability Ratings, with specific focus on module supply and use in the US market.
PV ModuleTech
Mar 09 - Mar 11, 2021
ONLINE
Understand fully the technical and logistical supply chains that determine the production and performance of solar modules, including all related factors impacting quality, reliability & bankability. This event will be run online with streamed content and online networking.
Solar Finance & Investment Europe
Feb 03 - Feb 04, 2021
ONLINE
The business of solar is changing, as the industry scales up, technology, IT and new players to the market will add complexity. This sparks a host of opportunities such as co-location of solar and storage and the rise of unsubsidised solar projects as well as challenges which will question the very business model of European solar asset owners. Solar Finance & Investment Europe is the meeting place for institutional investors, sovereign wealth funds, solar, wind and storage funds and large energy buyers to do business.
Also read...
-
Solargiga’s product shipments increase 64.8% to 6,811MW in 2020
-
Solaria secures ten-year PPA with Shell for 300MW Spanish portfolio
-
US ROUND-UP: Invenergy secures construction funds for 1.3GW site, 130MW Strata portfolio funded
-
Total and Hanwha Group division join forces for 1.6GW US solar and storage pipeline
-
COVID-19 has minimal impact on PPA prices in Europe and America
Comments