Over 2.5 GW of PV inverters were shipped in the third quarter of 2009, marking an impressive recovery for the market, which had stalled in the first half of the year. Global revenues are estimated to have reached over €600 million, 30% up on the same quarter in 2008 and nearly double the previous quarter. Germany, in particular, showed very strong growth with over 1.2GW of inverters shipped here in the third quarter alone - almost twice the amount that was shipped in the first half of the year.
“The third quarter of 2009 has been incredibly strong for the PV inverter market and we expect this to continue until the end of the year,” commented Sam Wilkinson, one of IMS Research’s PV research analysts. “The rapid module price declines in the first half of the year, coupled with better financing conditions has led to a surge of investors returning to PV, desperate to get systems connected in Germany before the feed-in tariff reduction on 31 December” Wilkinson added.
Demand is anticipated to remain very strong in the fourth quarter but is now limited by the availability of inverters and other components with most suppliers now unable to deliver products until 1Q 2010.
Prices of PV inverters have fallen around 10% over the last year, a relatively small amount compared to the severe price declines experienced by PV module suppliers.
SMA Solar Technology the largest supplier of PV inverters gained further market share having shipped over 1 GW of inverters in Q3.For the year-to-date it is estimated to have held a share of more than 40% of the global market.
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