Inverter Market Shines in the Booming Global Photovoltaic Industry

Global photovoltaic (PV) market is currently at the forefront of the industry, and inverters, which play a crucial role as the "heart" of the PV system, are in the midst of their own highlight moments.

Against the backdrop of major economies announcing their carbon neutrality targets, coupled with the continued decline in the cost of PV power generation, the industry's profitability has been on the rise. The strong growth in PV installations has a high level of certainty. It is known that the PV power generation system consists of modules, inverters, supports, cables, etc. They work together, with each part performing different functions. Modules are the most intuitive part, converting solar energy into direct current. Supports play a role in placing, installing, and fixing modules, while cables are essential in power transmission systems.

Among them, the inverter is an important equipment that connects the PV module and the grid. In addition to direct current-to-alternating current conversion, it uses power electronics technology to convert direct current generated by the PV power generation system into alternating current for household use. Furthermore, through maximum power point tracking technology, the inverter enables the PV panel to operate at maximum power, serving as both the heart and brain of the system. It can be foreseen that for a long time to come, the inverter as a necessary equipment in PV systems will fully benefit from the increasing installation of PV and the replacement demand of the existing market. It is expected that the global demand for PV inverters will achieve a CAGR of 16.20% from 2020 to 2025 and reach a level of 400 GW by 2025, corresponding to a market size of around 80 billion yuan.

The rapid development of the PV market has opened up incremental space for the inverter market. What kind of ups and downs has the inverter market experienced? How will the future develop? Today, let us follow the steps of "China Science and Technology Information" and discuss the topic of inverters.

The "Sunshine" of the Inverter Market

In 2023, the "first ray of sunshine" in the PV market shone on the inverter industry, and the continued increase in orders made many top inverter manufacturers busy. The entire industry showed an optimistic attitude towards the expected 2023 inverter shipments. According to institutional estimates, the demand for PV inverters will reach over 360 GW in 2023, and the overall market size is expected to exceed 60 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of over 50%. The overall scale of storage inverters is expected to double.

After several years of attention, the PV industry has become a well-known "windfall", so why has the inverter become a hot topic again? This is because of the importance of the inverter to the PV system. The inverter is a device that converts direct current (battery, storage battery) into alternating current, with wide-ranging applications in many fields such as automobiles, rail transportation, communication equipment, and new energy generation. Currently, the inverters referred to in the market mainly include PV inverters used in PV power generation systems and storage inverters used in energy storage systems.

In the process of solar PV power generation, the electricity generated by the PV array is direct current, but many loads require alternating current. Direct current power supply systems have many limitations, such as inconvenience in voltage conversion and limited load applications. Therefore, except for special electric loads, inverters are needed to convert direct current to alternating current. Hence, the reliability and safety of the inverter are crucial for the operation of the PV system. With the continuous growth of the PV market, the development of the inverter industry is becoming more and more prosperous.