1. Following the 2020 trend, the PV modules are larger and more efficient

With the development of technology, Topcon, HJT and other technical routes have driven PV modules to be more efficient and of larger power. With the transition from 144/166mm to 182mm or even 210 mm of silicon wafers, PV module has a maximum power of 800W/pcs or higher; the size is also over 2 m². And the power density of photovoltaic power generation has also increased from 150W /m² to 200W+/m².

2. BIPV concepts and solar carport applications are becoming popular

In 2020, the tracking mounting system for group PV is a big hot. While in 2021, affected by the Covid-19 and due to the price increase on PV supply chain (silicon wafers increase 110% to 230 CNY/kg, which has brought the PV modules price to 1.8 CNY/W or even higher, the metal of aluminum & steel 20%~30% price raise, IC materials over 30% price increase)，many EPCs have paused their projects and expect the pullback in prices. This has a negative impact on market demand of the tracking mounting system.

Instead, concepts or applications such as industrial plant BIPV, sun room, and solar carport are popular this year. Solar carports plus EV charging have become an application of low/net-zero emission and environment friendly, which should be more widely installed in the coming years.

3. Larger string inverters with up to 330kWp power and 1500V high voltage

In the past 10 years, PV inverter industry has been optimized and the survival have become the industrial leaders. Leading companies like Huawei, Sungrow, Solis, Goodwe and Sofarsolar etc have a good performance on the shipment and market share, the industry is more concentrated.

The power of sting inverters improves up to 330kWp and the 1500V maximum DC voltage on PV side is common on the DC side. The high voltage of 1500Vdc on battery side take the same trend. This higher voltage and power help lower the CAPEX and LCOE of large-scale PV projects. 

4. The All-in-one system and more consistent in residential solar battery exterior design

In the field of residential energy storage, the demand for AC coupled battery inverter to retrofit the existing PV system is decreasing. 5kW 48Vdc low voltage or 10kW 3-phase high voltage inverters are still the mainstream; the rack installed 4850 or 48100 modules are still in wide use, but more and more battery modules with well exterior designed, specialized for residential ESS applications have been developed, wall-mounted or stack up etc. There is an increase on system capacity, which it is mainly 5 to 15 kWh 3 years ago and 10 to 30kWh right now.

Most residential system prefer to have a simple and elegant housing with white, gray and silver as main colors, which are preferred colors of European markets. The surface is mainly with baking varnish disposal or frosted, which has enhanced the system beauty and made them of high-quality crafts.

5. Standardization of commercial & industrial solar battery system

Huawei and others manufacturers have launched smart energy storage solutions with string battery inverters. In 2020, we can still see mainly battery racks on exhibition while in 2021 many well-designed solutions have been brought to the show. Regulations from TUV, UL and GB have speed up the pace of C&I ESS standardization and commercialization.

With those standard devices as a hardware, the business model and project development based on that is feasible, it is more sufficient for the financing of such projects.

6. PV, storage and EV charging  Integration

More and more PV or storage manufacturers are also offering EV charging products or a hybrid solution. 7kW single-phase AC chargers, 22kW three-phase AC chargers and 60/120/240kW DC chargers are the main models of EV chargers on the markets.

Recently, as the UK and Germany have a strong support on electrical vehicles, the demand for EV chargers with European standards are raising.

7.     About QC Renewables

QC Renewables is an international company with headquarter in Singapore, best products from China and sales network all over the world. QC Renewables strives to provide green energy and power solution worldwide. PV, Storage and E-mobility are our 3 main business focuses