Advanced Energys decision to exit the PV inverter business leaves a solid slice of U.S. market share up for grabs. This is the conclusion of GTM Research, which has released the findings as a part of its PV Inverter Market Shares and 2015 Outlook analyst note.
GTM finds that SMA is the leading player in the U.S. inverter market with 24%, followed by ABB with 19% and Advanced Energy. ABBs share in the market has been enhanced by its acquisition of U.S. inverter provider Power-One in 2013.
The relative concentration in the market is evident in that the top three providers account 59% of shipments.
Advanced Energys exit from the market creates an immediate opportunity for all commercial and utility inverter manufacturers in the United States, writes solar analyst Scott Moskowitz. We see these markets as a combined 11.7 GWdc opportunity in 2015 and 2016, adds Moskowitz.
In the residential market, SolarEdge leads Enphase by a narrow margin in the U.S., although GTM notes that new feature sets and price pressure in the string inverter space with tighten competition in 2015.
There is considerable dynamism in the inverter market, GTM reports, and the analysts report that in Q1 2015 Advanced Energys uncertain status in the market and SolarEdges path towards IPO both impacted on the market.
The rollout of the National Electric Code is also impacting the market. Potential module level shutdown requirements for the next version of the code NEC 2017 would bolster long term growth opportunities for all module level power electronics, notes Moskowitz.
The global inverter market is set to total US$7.1 billion by 2018, according to GTM.
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