IHS Inc. (Englewood, Colorado, US) has found a rapidly growing need for energy storage in solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, in a global survey of more than 400 PV inverter customers.

The company states that nearly one-third of respondents indicated that they expect to be using energy storage in over 40% of the PV systems they install by 2015. The survey also found that Chinese inverters are gaining acceptance in the global PV market, and that the high price of microinverters is a barrier to increasing market share.

“Energy storage is becoming an increasingly important feature for PV systems and if suppliers are able to deliver products in line with the industry’s expectations, the market for energy storage in PV could increase significantly over the next two years,” explained IHS Power and Energy Research Manager Sam Wilkinson.

IHS surveyed distributors, installers, integrators, EPCs and wholesalers, and has published the results as “PV Inverter Customer Survey – World – 2013”.

10-29% price premium for storage acceptable to most

Respondents from Germany, Italy and the UK chose energy storage as being more critical than any other requirement for future PV inverters over the next two years. Respondents also stated that a reduction in battery prices would be the main driver for the adoption of energy storage.

Over 60% of global respondents found that a 10-29% increase in system prices for the inclusion of energy storage would be acceptable, and almost 30% stated that they would be willing to pay a higher premium.

Chinese inverters gaining acceptance in Germany

The percentage of survey respondents who stated that Chinese inverters were of an acceptable level of quality increased to 40%, compared to 30% in the same survey conducted a year prior. IHS reports that the most notable increase came from German customers, where the acceptance level more than doubled.

However, respondents still cited concerns about the reliability of Chinese inverters and the levels of service and warranties offered.

Micro-inverters limited by high price

IHS also found that the percentage of installers willing to use micro-inverters increased by 10 percentage points in 2012 compared to 2011, with customers citing the additional design flexibility offered and the ability to combat shading.

The technology's relatively high price was cited as the main reason for not using micro-inverters, and a majority of respondents who do not currently use microinverters stated that microinverter makers will need to reduce price by over 50% before they would consider using them.

2013-03-07 | Courtesy: IHS; Image: Enecsys | solarserver.com © Heindl Server GmbH

Our editorial selection of breaking solar news is published at:
www.solarserver.com/solar-magazine/solar-news/top-solar-news.html