Trends Shaping The Global Solar Industry This Year
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July 19, 2018Trends in Global Solar Industry – 2018
Solar is gradually becoming a mainstream source of power generation. Nations worldwide are formulating aggressive plans based on solar energy. Many new countries are joining the solar revolution as the technology continues to post efficiency gains and set new price records. Things started to really change after hundreds of nations came together and signed the Paris Climate change Agreement, pledging to keep the average global temperature hike within 2-degree centigrade. Solar not only is preferred for its green credentials but also for its improving cost dynamics. Currently, the PPA tariffs are touching record lows in several nations including India and solar is giving tough competition to fossil fuels like coal and gas. The panel prices are also expected to fall in the second half of 2018.
Several large size solar tenders will be auctioned this year. More than 50 countries in the world now have an active auctioning system for solar tenders. Other than the leading solar countries like the US, China and India, others nations will actively participate and the number of countries installing 1 gigawatt or more annually will grow. In the US itself, 8 states are expected to install more than 1 GW of solar over the next four years.
After years of multicrystalline solar panels’ dominance, it is time for monocrystalline technology to gather momentum. PERC has become a more mature technology and leading companies like LG Solar, Jinko Solar will lead the trend. In the storage industry, microinverters and optimizers will gain more popularity, as distributed generation gathers pace around the globe. It is expected that DG market growth will be the largest in the USA, Europe, Japan and China. Integrated solar system with storage options will start gaining the required traction in leading markets. Leading Chinese inverter maker Sungrow is investing in bigger 1500-volt DC string inverters. It is projected that string inverters will eventually replace central inverters even in utility-scale applications.
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The Indian market will continue to post good solar growth driven by its 2022 target, rising power costs and high demand for power. Trends in the global solar industry this year will also be affected by US trade protectionist policies and China’s domestic demand.