China driving demand for global solar PV inverters

Global solar PV inverter* shipments grew by 56% in 2023 to 536 GWac, with China accounting for half of all shipments as the country’s solar demand doubled in 2023, according to the latest analysis by Wood Mackenzie.  

The top 10 PV inverter vendors, led by Chinese giants Huawei and Sungrow, controlled 81% of the global market. Huawei and Sungrow alone captured over 50% of the global share, thanks largely to their popular utility-scale inverters, reports the market analyst. The rest of the market saw a diversification with 11 other manufacturers exceeding 10 GWac in shipments.

Chinese manufacturers overwhelmingly dominated the top 10, with nine companies securing spots, including Ginlong Solis, which maintained its third-place ranking, and Sineng, which climbed four spots to fourth, buoyed by a 133% increase in shipments. This surge was facilitated by substantial national investments aimed at bolstering both domestic and international solar demand.  

In contrast, PV inverter market growth in North America and Europe, while robust with double-digit growth, was more concentrated at the utility-scale level as residential inverter manufacturers faced slower demand growth and excess inventory from oversupply beginning in 2022. The US market was led by Sungrow and Power Electronics, while Europe was led by shipments from Huawei, Sungrow and SMA.

*A solar inverter is an electrical converter which changes the direct current (DC) electricity captured by solar panels, into alternating current (AC) that can be fed into the grid.

US backing solar as part of decarbonisation agenda

Meanwhile, the US continues to invest in solar technologies and projects to meet the Biden-Harris Administration’s goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 50–52% below 2005 levels by 2030, reaching 100% carbon pollution-free electricity by 2035, and achieving a net zero emissions economy by 2050.

The Department of Energy (DOE) has unveiled $33mn of funding that will support nine projects across seven states, focusing on concentrating solar-thermal (CST) systems. CST technologies use mirrors to reflect and concentrate sunlight on to a receiver, heating a high-temperature fluid. The heat can then be used to spin a turbine or power an engine to generate electricity. It can also be used in a variety of industrial applications, such as water desalination, enhanced oil recovery, food processing and chemicals production.

Three of the selected projects will focus on using solar heat to produce renewable fuels, including clean hydrogen, jet fuel and other high-value products, more cost-effectively. Meanwhile, six further projects will develop advanced thermal energy storage technologies that can provide heat continuously or on demand, helping to decarbonise industries like food and beverage production and chemical manufacturing.

Solar project to help power US refinery operations

In other US solar news, Flint Hills Resources is planning to build its second company-owned solar installation to help power its US refinery operations. The new 27 MW solar installation will provide electricity to the company’s Corpus Christi West (Texas) refinery, which produces jet fuel, ultra-low sulphur diesel and gasoline. Under optimal conditions, the solar project is expected to satisfy nearly one-third of the refinery’s power needs.

The refinery also operates a combined heat and power (CHP) system, which provides about 30 MW of electricity. At peak capacity, the CHP and solar installation together could satisfy up to 60% of the Corpus Christi West facility’s daily power needs, claims Flint Hills Resources.

Scottsdale, Arizona-based DEPCOM Power has been selected as the engineering, procurement and construction contractor for the project. Flint Hills Resources and DEPCOM are corporate cousins, both being subsidiaries of Koch Companies.

‘This is an exciting opportunity to integrate solar directly into a large refinery complex, reliably and at a lower cost than conventional, retail power,’ comments John Schroeder, DEPCOM’s Executive Vice President of Distributed Energy. ‘You don’t often see utility-scale projects for a single facility and while this may be among the first projects of its kind at this scale in Texas, it won’t be the last. Distributed solar generation is proving to be a competitive and reliable source of power for many energy-intensive industries.’

DEPCOM recently completed construction of a similar solar project at Flint Hills Resources’ Pine Bend refinery in Rosemount, Minnesota. At 45 MW, the Pine Bend solar project is the largest of its kind in the US, according to Flint Hills Resources.

Flint Hills Resources is planning to build a solar installation to help power its Corpus Christi West refinery in the US

Flint Hill Resources

EIB supporting solar expansion in Italy and Spain with over $250mn in financing  

Meanwhile, in a move aimed at enhancing Europe’s renewable energy capacity, the European Investment Bank (EIB) with Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking (Natixis CIB) have secured a €204mn financing deal with solar PV power producer Sunprime Group to support one of Italy’s largest solar PV portfolios. The investment will fund the construction of over 100 solar plants, with a total capacity of 220 MW, across rooftops and land throughout the country.  

When operational in 2026, the plants are expected to generate 275 GWh annually.

The EIB has also announced a €50mn green loan with independent power producer (IPP) Matrix Renewables to support the construction and operation of five new solar PV plants in Spain. These plants, located in Castilla León and Extremadura, will add 240 MW of capacity to Spain’s renewable energy infrastructure and are expected to be fully operational by the end of 2025.