Skip to main content Skip to main navigation Skip to site search

Solar inverter ranking: Huawei, Sungrow and SMA leading

The third-party research institute GTM Research released its report on global solar inverter market shares and shipments in 2017. The top 10 solar inverter vendors in 2017 are: Huawei (26.4%), Sungrow (16.7%), SMA (8.7%), ABB (5.6%), Sineng (4.6%), TBEA SunOasis (3.9%), Power Electronics (2.9%), TMEIC (2.8%), Schneider Electric (2.6%), and SolarEdge Technologies (2.5%).

Top 20 vendors accounting for 93% of shipments

2017 witnessed a record of 98.563 GW of solar inverter shipments, with a 23% growth compared with 2016. The top-20 vendors shipped over 1 GW of products, accounting for 93% of global shipments, the highest since GTM began to keep track in 2010.

Top 4 vendors maintained the ranking since 2015

The concentrating market has reinforced the Matthew effect. Top vendors with accumulated advantages continue to expand fast. The top 4 solar inverter vendors have maintained the ranking from 2015 to 2017, with Huawei on top of the list for three years in a row.

In terms of the segment market, three-phase string inverter shipments hit 46.233 GW in 2017 and grew 49% year-over-year. Central inverter shipments reached 42.382 GW. It is the first time that string inverter shipments exceeded those of central inverters by nearly 4 GW.

String inverters mainstream also for ground-mounted PV plants

Thanks to the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) technology, string inverters achieve a better performance in energy yields, adaptability to complex environments, management granularity, reliability, and maintenance costs. They have gained more popularity in large ground-mounted power plants. Taking China's Top Runner program, for example, string inverters have taken up more than 80% in power plants. The GTM report is also a proof that string inverters have become the mainstream for large ground-mounted PV power plants. (HCN)

Stay informed, get our free newsletter twice a week. Subscribe here.

Read more about power electronics

More useful information:

http://www.pveurope.eu/News/Solar-Generator/Huawei-launched-its-Fusion-Home-Smart-Energy-Solution-in-Munich

http://www.pveurope.eu/News/Markets-Money/SMA-ranked-as-top-O-M-service-provider

http://www.pveurope.eu/News/Energy-Storage/Sungrow-installs-world-s-largest-PV-energy-storage-microgrid-for-over-14-000-people

https://www.pveurope.eu/financing/abb-expands-production-capacity-solar-inverters-estonia