INVERTERS DEFY SOLAR MARKET TRENDS TO AIM FOR THE SKY

摘要

A weak first quarter of 2009, caused by worldwide economic troubles and the collapse of the Spanish market, led to an oversupply of PV modules, but was not a sign of what was to come for the rest of the year. Demand rebounded strongly in the second half of the year and Germany led the market, consuming more than 4 GW of inverters during the year, generating revenues of US$1.4 billion. Global shipments ended 35% up on the year before at 8.3 GW with Europe accounting for the majority of demand.Surging demand also characterised the PV industry in 2010 (see box panel, right), as uncertainty regarding incentive schemes in a number of key markets drove global installations and inverter shipments to grow by over 100%, as investors and developers rushed to complete projects, fearing that incentives would be reduced or removed altogether.