Solar inverter shipments reached 4.9 GW in Q2’10, growing by 284%, according to IMS Research’s (Wellingborough, UK) recently released report on the global solar photovoltaic (PV) market. More than half of these shipments were for installations in Germany, which grew by 388% in Q2, driving total shipments there up to more than 8 GW for the first six months of 2010 - a three-fold increase over the same period last year. EMEA accounted for around 90% of inverter shipments in Q2’10, growing by more than 300% over the previous year; further, the Americas market doubled in size. Indeed, all regions recorded impressive growth, generating around €1.5 billion in revenues for inverter suppliers. The inverter shipments of more than 8 GW in H1’10 were similar to shipments for the whole of 2009, IMS Research emphasizes.

IMS Research predicts close to 15 GW of new PV installations in 2010

According to PV Research Director Ash Sharma, "Records continue to be broken in the PV market and Q2’10 was no different. 4.9 GW of inverters shipped made it the largest quarter on record and 30% higher than the previous record of 3.7 GW shipped in Q4’09”. Sharma added “Shipments of 8 GW in the first six months of the year appear to support IMS Research’s prediction of close to 15 GW of new PV installations in 2010; with Q3 and Q4 both expected to be strong quarters for suppliers".

Inverter prices fell for the fifth consecutive quarter

Whilst MW shipments grew 284% in Q2, revenues "only" grew by 165% due to a 30% fall in inverter prices. Despite extraordinarily high demand amidst tight supply, inverter prices fell for the fifth consecutive quarter in Q2’10. Much of this, however, can be attributed to a continuing shift towards larger inverters, which have an inherently lower price per Watt.

With the market being affected both by extremely high demand and production issues, major changes in the market share of suppliers are expected this year. IMS Research estimates that market leader, SMA Solar Technology’s market share fell by 5% in Q2’10, whilst Power-One was the industry’s biggest share gainer, up by more than 6%.

IMS Research is a supplier of market research and consultancy services on a wide range of global electronics markets. The company is supported by headquarters in Wellingborough, UK and offices in Austin, Texas and Shanghai, China. IMS Research regularly publishes detailed research on the PV inverter market and other areas of the PV industry, among others: www.pvmarketresearch.com

2010-08-18 | Courtesy: IMS Research | solarserver.com © Heindl Server GmbH

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