Wood Mackenzie

The global market for solar trackers expanded by 20% in 2018, with total international shipments spiking 36% year-on-year to surpass the 20 GW mark, according to a new report by Wood Mackenzie. NEXTracker and Array Technologies maintained their industry dominance, but a number of smaller competitors claimed a greater share of the global market in the 12 months to the end of December than ever before.

EV sales retreated to a mere 1,200 units in the 2018 financial year, but electric two-wheeler sales rose 138%, to 54,800 units, according to research and consultancy group Wood Mackenzie.

Wood Mackenzie’s number-crunchers are the latest analysts queueing up to predict a bumper year ahead for PV, with falling prices, rising efficiency rates and booming markets outside China all on the cards. And it could be a make-or-break year for mega-projects, says Wood Mac.

U.S. developers have applied to build 139 GWac of large-scale solar projects in the territory of six grid operators – around five times what is currently online across the country – and that figure doesn’t even cover the entire United States. By any metric, we are looking at an unprecedented boom in solar development over the next five years.

Wood Mackenzie and SEIA’s latest Solar Market Insight report shows a big fall in utility-scale project completions from July through the end of September, but the promise of a massive fourth quarter.

Wood Mackenzie notes that new investors and sources of capital are chasing down a limited supply of viable U.S. solar projects and sees tightening targets, expanding project appetite, and evolving techniques.

Despite political hurdles in key markets including China, India and Japan, Asia remains highly active. This year, 59 GW of solar is expected to be installed and due to further system price declines, a phase-out of subsidy schemes can be offset.

India is likely to add between 8-8.5 GW of renewable energy generation capacity in the current financial year ending March 2019, according to research and rating agency ICRA Limited.

The tipping point, where the world shifts from oil and gas to renewables, will be the year 2035, says Wood Mackenzie. This is when renewables and electric-based technologies converge, with around 20% of global power needs being met by solar or wind, and roughly 20% of miles traveled by cars, trucks, buses and bikes using electricity. Will the transition come soon enough, however?

A new report by Wood Mackenzie finds a surprising amount of potential demand flexibility in U.S. homes, which can make the job of integrating more solar and wind easier.