Growth, Market Share and Dynamic Change in The PV Inverter Industry

The PV inverter market, once short of innovation, has seen a surge of investment in the last few years. Spurred by startup advances, established firms like SMA, Satcon, and National Semiconductor are developing new distributed PV electronics technologies in-house or through acquisition. This Special Report from Greentech Media, sponsored by Enphase Energy, takes a look at the state of innovation in the inverter market, VC investment activity, and the emerging leaders in the $2.4 billion PV inverter market.

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As the price of PV falls, the technology will become more competitively priced in Europe and the U.S. before its prices are competitive in China.

CPV: New Applications and Emerging Markets
November 16, 2009

Hot Startup »

Solar Startup Solasta Seeks Next Round

The solar firm was founded in 2006 with A round funding from Kleiner Perkins and claims its process could increase the efficiency of conventional amorphous silicon PV by up to 150 percent.

Manufacturing

Solar Fraud Could Eliminate Spanish Market

A government investigation has uncovered many incomplete projects that were reported as finished by a September deadline. Those projects could qualify for the new 500MW cap for 2009, blocking new project applications.

Solar
Ucilia Wang December 15, 2008
First Solar Panels Piling Up?

ThinkEquity analyst believes there's a surplus of low-cost panels from First Solar out there. That could spell trouble for crystalline silicon panel makers as well.

Solar
Ucilia Wang December 12, 2008
American Solar Industry's Secret Sauce: Innovation

A new Greentech Media market research report surveys the North American solar industry and finds the explosive growth in emerging technologies the key to U.S. dominance in the global solar market.

Solar
Ucilia Wang December 12, 2008
Nanosolar: Tubular Thin Films Are Overrated

Nanosolar CEO Martin Roscheisen penned a blog to refute claims by Solyndra, which came out of stealth mode earlier this year to announce unusual solar panel designs and big contracts.

Solar
Ucilia Wang December 11, 2008
Splitting the Thin-Film Difference

NanoGram is building a 5-megawatt factory where it hopes to make thinner solar cells that match crystalline silicon's efficiency.

Solar
Jeff St. John December 5, 2008
Solar a Bust in Spain

Installers of solar energy systems are trying to unload megawatts worth of panels cheaply after buying too many at high prices earlier this year.

Solar
Ucilia Wang December 2, 2008
Moser Baer Rolls Out Thin-Film, Builds Power Plant

The Indian solar company plans to build factories with more than 600 megawatts of capacity by 2010, while developing solar power plants to take advantage of the new feed-in tariff in India.

Solar
Ucilia Wang December 2, 2008
First Solar Creates Tough Act to Follow

Solar startups will have trouble replicating the thin-film solar panel market leader's performance in today's poor economy, industry watchers at a Photon International conference warn.

Solar
Jeff St. John December 2, 2008
150 Solar Startups

VC investment in solar has risen from a trickle to a flood in the previous four years. In this three-part series, Eric Wesoff digs into these solar investments to see what turns up.

Solar
Eric Wesoff December 2, 2008
Miasolé's Chief Researcher Defects to SoloPower

Kannan Ramanathan, a CIGS whiz from NREL, has resigned as chief research officer at Miasolé to work for a rival.

Solar
Michael Kanellos November 21, 2008
Helio Micro Connects Tech Museum to the Sun

The startup solar energy developer joins San Jose, Calif. mayor and SunPower to go solar at a tech museum.

Solar
Ucilia Wang November 21, 2008
Tough Year Ahead for UMG Silicon Players?

Makers of upgraded metallurgical silicon already have to work hard to prove their technologies work. With competitors and potential customers cutting sales forecasts, however, UMG silicon producers might find it tougher to weather the downturn.

Solar
Ucilia Wang November 19, 2008
NREL Hunts for Solar-Thermal Hot Spots

The national lab is working with Iberdrola Renewables and other companies on measuring solar energy resources for developing solar-thermal power plants in Arizona.

Solar
Ucilia Wang November 14, 2008
SolFocus Boosts Solar Efficiency

The California startup launches a new concentrating solar system that ups sunlight-to-electricity efficiency to 25 percent, up from 18 percent in its last system.

Solar
Ucilia Wang November 13, 2008
JA Solar Posts Losses, Blames Lehman

The Chinese solar cell maker recorded losses from its investment and fund-raising deals with Lehman. JA Solar also cut forecasts in light of the weakened euro and slumping economy.

Solar
Ucilia Wang November 12, 2008
CaliSolar Snags $101.9M for UMG-Silicon Cells

In July, the solar cell developer told Greentech Media that it was looking for money to build a commercial plant in California next year. An SEC filing shows the company has completed a Series B round.

Solar
Ucilia Wang November 3, 2008
SolFocus Turns On First U.S. Commercial Installation

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi flips the switch on a 7.2-kilowatt system for a radio station in California, which expects to be the first concentrating-photovoltaic customer to be eligible for state solar rebates.

Solar
Jennifer Kho October 30, 2008
First Solar Profits Up 54%, Credit Crunch Could Impact Biz

UPDATED 6:50 PM: Before announcing its third-quarter earnings, the thin-film panel maker said it was investing $25 million in SolarCity. The CEOs of both companies appeared together to discuss residential solar only two weeks ago.

Solar
Ucilia Wang October 29, 2008
Solaria Has a Solar Park Deal for You

The Spanish solar panel maker is looking for buyers of its solar power plants after its original buyers backed out. Also, Spain is cracking down on fraudulent solar development claims.

Solar
Ucilia Wang October 27, 2008
Google Plays U.S.-China Matchmaker

Google.org is giving $250,000 to the U.S. National Academies to fund a study on how the United States and China can collaborate on solar and wind energy generation, energy storage and grid tech.

Solar
Ucilia Wang October 21, 2008