Leading inverter manufacturers Sungrow and ABB having been enjoying significant success with their respective solar inverter businesses.
Sungrow recently announced it had taken orders for 5.89 gigawatts of solar inverters last year, 4.23 GW of which have already shipped. There was a huge demand in China for the company’s products in 2014, which accounted for 3.8 GW of orders. Of the remaining 430 MW exported to the global market, half consisted of string inverters.
Ten countries made up 70% of the 430MW export total, including Australia. Sungrow solar inverters have been a popular choice in local home solar power systems given their pricing point and features.
Sungrow is currently the largest manufacturer and exporter of solar inverters in China and is ranked no.3 in the world for market share. While the company will likely retain a strong focus on China, IHS solar analyst Cormac Gilligan suggests Sungrow will likely seek to replicate its domestic success in the international arena in the near future.
Competitor ABB has also experienced ongoing success with its inverter business, particularly in India.
ABB’s India division reports it is the first company to reach sales of a cumulative capacity of 1 GW of solar inverters in the nation. The major milestone was reached after an order by Tata Power Solar, for a project for Kiran Energy Solar Power at its facility in Nelamangala. One gigawatt of inverter capacity is enough to power up to ~750,000 households, based on western averages.
ABB achieved an impressive growth rate of 18% last year in India and is pushing for even more growth this year. The company set up solar inverter manufacturing in India in 2012, developing units to suit local conditions.
In other recent ABB news, the parent company announced earlier this month it had supplied in inverters for a 70 MW project in South America; the second-largest solar farm of its kind in the entire region.
Like Sungrow inverters, ABB’s products are often chosen for residential solar panel systems in Australia due to their high efficiency and robust design. ABB’s central and string inverters are also popular in commercial installations.
ABB currently ranks no.2 in the world for solar inverter market share; boosted by its acquisition of Power-One in April 2013. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs approximately 140,000 people.
