EEbeat

Market research firm IDC Energy Insights (www.idc-ei.com) recently predicted that the utility-scale (100 kW+) PV inverter market will continue a 60% annual growth in the North American market for at least the next three to five years. According to their report, the dramatic growth of solar PV installations throughout Europe and Asia indicates that the North American utilities industry should be prepared to embrace the PV revolution in a significant manner. The report evaluates ten vendors of utility-scale inverter products for the North American market, including Advanced Energy (AE), General Electric (GE), Ingeteam, KACO, PV Powered, Satcon, Schneider Electric/Xantrex, Siemens, SMA, and Solectria.
One finding was that the inverter market is undergoing rapid evolution. Vendors have been investing heavily in R&D for several years and the fruits of those efforts are manifested in new models that boast higher efficiency, better reliability, and greater control.
Meanwhile, IMS Research (www.imsresearch.com) of England reported that global inverter shipments reached 3.1 GW in Q1 2010 – the largest first quarter total for the industry, and the second highest quarterly result on record.
PV Research Director Ash Sharma commented, “Although Q1’10 presented some incredible results for inverter suppliers, with shipments up more than 300% year-on-year, sequentially shipments fell in all regions, including Germany.” Total global inverter shipments were 3.7 GW in Q4 2009, some 16% higher than Q1 2010. Part of that downturn was due to a shortage of inverters. – Jim Harrison