ABB

The inverter businesses have responded to the letter published by the UK Solar Trade Association which was critical of the former’s products and customer service record.

The STA has warned Italian company Fimer, which is set to acquire Swiss company ABB’s inverter business, it will have to honor customer service commitments made to its British members, and voiced fears related to historic quality issues with ABB inverters.

Inverter company ABB supplied equipment for a second PV plant at the Artigas base. Its collaboration with the Uruguayan Antarctic Institute helps facilitate climate change research.

After the bombshell news this week, the Italian inverter manufacturer’s CEO spoke to pv magazine about the future of ABB’s R&D hubs, manufacturing sites, hundreds of employees and of course Fimer’s outlook.

Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu were the top five states by annual installation, accounting for 60% of the new capacity.

This Swiss giant is following a trend as large multinational high-tech companies see their role as redesigning infrastructure rather than supplying inverters at ever lower margins. Schneider Electric has pulled out of large scale solar, Siemens’ Kaco acquisition and Junelight launch show increasing interest in the C&I and residential markets, and GE is likely to divest its power conversion business due to low profit margins in that sector.

Initially, the company will construct a 16 GWh factory plus a joint venture fab with Volkswagen in Germany, which will also have a throughput of 16 GWh. Both factories could be extended to tap further into the large market for battery cells in Europe.

The Swiss power group and Italian utility Evolvere have started a blockchain pilot project designed to facilitate transparent, secure peer-to-peer energy trading.

The Chinese string inverter giant was the world’s biggest supplier for the fourth year in a row, in spite of having lost 4% in global market shares, according to analyst Wood Mackenzie. Asia-Pacific was again the largest inverter market last year, accounting for 64% of global shipments. Sungrow and SMA were, respectively, the second and third largest providers.

IHS Markit’s analysts have mapped out what they are keeping an eye out for in the year ahead. Aside from higher installation figures, the number-crunchers predict a continued battle for multi-function in the hard-fought inverter segment and a potential watershed year for utility-scale storage.