Conergy and Sungrow announce inverter partnership

Share

In what will be a significant confident boost to Sungrow, Conergy has announced it will buy inverters from the Chinese manufacturer for use in its global solar project pipeline, which currently stands at 3.4 GW.

In a statement released, it explained, "Sungrow products were chosen for their proven transmission efficiency, which maximizes power output; lightweight design, which shortens the installation time; and precise readings, which ensure quick service support if any issues arise." It added that "multiple" other inverter companies were considered.

The first project to benefit from the new partnership is a 5 MW ground-mount PV system, set to be installed in the "center" of the U.K. It will feature Sungrow’s SG60KTL inverter.

While Conergy could not say how many inverters will be shipped under the partnership, Oliver Schweininger, Conergy's VP of Global Purchasing and Supply Chain told pv magazine, "Conergy did 300 MW last year and intends to grow very aggressive this year. The volume growth will be managed with selected key partners which qualify for the strict criteria of Conergy."

Expansion

Announcing its Q1 financial results, Sungrow recorded strong international shipments of 230 MW and a positive net profit of RMB 68.9 million (US$11.1 million). Displaying a thirst for expansion, the company is said to be developing a 5 GW inverter manufacturing program and 220 MW PV power station, both thought to be in China, at a cost of $532 million.

Lower-than-average

IHS recently revealed in its latest PV Inverter Market Tracker that Chinese inverter suppliers are facing lower-than-average inverter prices – as low as $0.07/W, compared to global averages of $0.16/W – which may also explain why Conergy has opted for a Chinese supplier.

At the start of May, IHS senior analyst, solar supply chain, Cormac Gilligan told pv magazine that despite China’s growing MW shipments, its largest inverter suppliers have still failed to achieve the revenues enjoyed by leading manufacturers from Japan, Europe and the U.S. "Inverter prices in China are considerably lower than average inverter prices in the rest of the world and, as a result, this impacts their [Sungrow and Huawei’s] total revenue," he said

Overall, IHS said that on the back of a shrinking gobal PV inverter market, which contracted 4% in 2014, European and U.S. suppliers are finding the market tough, particularly in the face of stiff Asian competition, primarily from Japan.

This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.

Popular content

Mercedes-Benz testing new solar paint

02 December 2024 Mercedes-Benz said it is now evaluating a 20%-efficient, non-silicon photovoltaic coating that is significantly cheaper than conventional solar module...

Share

Leave a Reply

Please be mindful of our community standards.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.

Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.

You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.

Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.