The proportion of string inverters is rapidly increasing, and overseas demand is greatly increasing

The proportion of string inverters is rapidly increasing, and overseas demand is significantly increasing. 1. Global inverter market demand situation

1. Market demand situation

In 2021, the demand for photovoltaic market exceeded expectations, with a global increase of approximately 170GW of installed capacity, a year-on-year growth of 31%. The market demand for photovoltaic inverters in the newly installed market also maintains a growing trend, and with the gradual increase of cumulative photovoltaic installed capacity, the market demand for replacing existing project inverters will also further increase. According to estimates, the total demand for photovoltaic inverters in the global market in 2021 is approximately 180GW.

From the perspective of the demand product types for photovoltaic inverters, the selection principle of industrial, commercial, and household distributed preferred string inverters, micro inverters, and centralized inverters is still followed globally. But with the rapid growth of the distributed photovoltaic market and the increasing proportion of string inverters in centralized photovoltaic power plants, the overall proportion of string inverters has been increasing year by year.

The inverter replacement market will become an important component of market demand. Unlike photovoltaic modules with a lifespan of 25 years or even longer, as electrical equipment, inverters have a lifespan of around 10-15 years. This means that photovoltaic power stations built ten years ago have gradually entered a period of stock upgrading. With the significant increase in installed capacity of photovoltaic power generation around the world and the aging of existing photovoltaic power generation equipment, the demand for replacing inverters in the entire photovoltaic market is continuing to grow.

2. Market competition pattern

From the perspective of product prices, as inverter products gradually upgrade and technology advances, costs are gradually showing a downward trend. However, due to factors such as the increasing proportion of shipments of string inverters, shortage of IGBT core components, and rising sea freight prices, the average global price of photovoltaic inverters in 2021 has increased compared to 2020.

From the perspective of market competition, in recent years, domestic inverter companies have been striving to expand overseas channels and accelerate their overseas layout. Due to the fact that product quality is basically comparable to that of overseas companies, and labor and manufacturing costs are lower compared to overseas companies, domestic inverter companies have a more obvious competitive advantage. With the increase in the proportion of domestic companies' overseas shipments in recent years, the market share of overseas inverter companies is continuously declining.

From the perspective of key markets, the United States remains the second largest demand market after China in 2021. The Brazilian market is stimulated by net metering policies, leading to rapid development of distributed photovoltaics; The Indian market rebounded strongly in 2021, with photovoltaic equipment mainly relying on imports; The installed capacity in the German market is mainly driven by the industrial and commercial market; In the past two years, the demand in the Japanese market has been relatively stable, and the low-voltage and high-voltage markets have developed synchronously; Latin America, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East have led to the growth of emerging markets overseas.

2、 Overview of the Development of China's Inverter Industry

In 2021, the demand for photovoltaic industry at home and abroad maintained high-speed growth, and domestic inverter enterprises accelerated the production layout of photovoltaic inverters, driving further increase in photovoltaic inverter production.

1. Competition situation in the inverter market

After years of industrial technology upgrading and market competition, the brand structure of the domestic inverter industry has basically taken shape. Currently, there are more than 20 active enterprises in production. Due to the outstanding advantages in scientific research strength and manufacturing costs in the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta regions, almost all mainstream domestic enterprises are concentrated in these two areas.

In 2021, the Chinese photovoltaic inverter market is still mainly dominated by centralized inverters and string inverters, with a relatively small market share for distributed inverters. Among them, the proportion of string inverters has increased from 66.5% in 2020 to 69.6%, while centralized inverters account for 27.7%. The market for distributed inverters has further shrunk from 5% in 2020 to 2.7%.

2. Inverter export situation

With the improvement of technological level and the competitiveness of inverter brands, domestic inverter manufacturers have begun to accelerate their pace of expanding into overseas markets, and domestic inverter enterprises are constantly shifting their business focus to overseas markets. At the same time, due to domestic enterprises expanding their power plant development and EPC businesses overseas, it has also driven a significant increase in the export of inverters. From the perspective of export destinations, Europe and Asia Pacific remain the main regions for exports, followed by Latin America and North America.