Major PV inverter manufacturer SMA Solar Technology has claimed to have shipped over 1GW of inverters to India in 2016, holding a 26% market share, based on its figures that the market size in the country reached 3.9GW.
According to SMA Solar, its inverter shipments have almost doubled over the prior year period with India becoming a key market for the company outside North America.
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However, SMA Solar’s shipments and revenue in the first nine months of 2016 declined, forcing the company to lower revenue guidance, while restructuring and consolidating manufacturing plants.
According to a recent market update by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), PV installations in India in 2016 exceeded 4.5GW, while Mercom had guided over 4GW.
“SMA has nearly doubled its total installed inverter base in India in 2016 alone. Among other projects, our central inverters have been used to build the largest solar power plant in India to date,” said John Susa, SMA Executive Vice President Sales Asia Pacific. “This is a great success, as the Indian market is of strategic importance for SMA. With a market share of 26% in 2016, we are strongly positioned in this growth market.”
Having reasonably kept pace with PV installation growth in India in 2016, a key challenge for SMA Solar will be retaining market share as BNEF and GTM Research have forecasted installs to reach around 8.9GW, while Mercom expects over 9GW in 2017.