PV inverter exports in January: total shipments of 4.17GW, top ten companies accounted for 82.7%, Kenya entered the top ten for the first time

In January 2020, the total shipment of photovoltaic inverters reached 4.17GW, with a total export value of US$167 million. In terms of corporate export value, Sungrow's export value was US$23.3 million, ranking first, Delta's export value was US$12.4 million, ranking second, and Huawei's export value was US$12.1 million, ranking third. In terms of corporate shipments, Sungrow's shipments were 821.01MW, ranking first, Huawei's shipments were 598.46MW, ranking second, and Growatt's shipments were 392.45MW, ranking third. (Note: Corporate shipments and export value data are data produced by Chinese factories and exported abroad, excluding overseas factories and bonded areas.)

Compared with the export volume of 4.77GW in December last year, this month's inverter export data has slightly decreased, with shipments down 12.58% month-on-month, but compared with 3.1GW in the same period last year, shipments increased 34.52% year-on-year. In 2019, China's photovoltaic inverter exports hit a new high. At the same time, affected by domestic market policies, inverter manufacturers have accelerated their pace of going overseas.

According to Zhixin Consulting, the exports of various inverter manufacturers have been affected to varying degrees by the epidemic. In the past, February is the off-season for exports, with fewer orders and fewer inquiries from abroad. However, due to the impact of transportation, the products cannot be delivered to the port, which also means that many orders that need to be delivered cannot be carried out as scheduled.

In terms of the proportion of enterprise shipments, Sungrow ranked first with 19.67%, Huawei ranked second with 14.34%, and Growatt ranked third with 9.41%. In terms of the growth rate of enterprise shipments, Sungrow's shipments increased by 410.71MW month-on-month, ranking first, GoodWe's shipments increased by 55.41MW month-on-month, ranking second, and Huawei's shipments decreased by 782.29MW month-on-month.

In 2019, Sungrow's overseas market shipments reached 7.92GW. According to the 2019 annual performance forecast released by Sungrow, the net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company is about 850 million to 931 million yuan, an increase of about 5%-15% over the same period last year. As for the reasons for the performance changes, the performance forecast pointed out that during the reporting period, Sungrow increased its efforts to develop overseas markets, gradually implemented strategic plans, carried out various businesses in an orderly manner, and achieved year-on-year growth in revenue and profits, further improving its global market position and competitiveness.

In 2019, GoodWe's annual overseas market shipments reached 1.1GW. Since 2016, the proportion of GoodWe's main business revenue from overseas has continued to rise. The company's products are mainly sold to Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, India, Australia, Brazil, Mexico and other countries. Exchange rate fluctuations will have a certain impact on the company's performance.

From the perspective of export regional markets, the Netherlands shipped 767.11MW with an export value of US$29 million, ranking first; the United States shipped 721.58MW with an export value of US$37 million, ranking second; Brazil shipped 636.14MW with an export value of US$21 million, ranking third.

Compared with the top 10 inverter export markets in 2019, the Netherlands, the United States, Brazil, and Japan remain stable. Despite the heavy tariff protection imposed on Chinese companies, the import data of photovoltaic modules in the United States has increased year by year in recent years. In 2019, the US photovoltaic market added 15GW of installed capacity, of which imported modules accounted for more than 85%.

In 2019, India's photovoltaic market added 10GW of installed capacity. However, due to the impact of the epidemic, India's procurement of solar equipment is facing problems such as price increases and delivery delays. Currently, nearly 3GW of solar projects in India may miss the deadline for guaranteed online operation and face losses due to time and cost overruns.

Kenya entered the top ten for the first time. In recent years, Kenya has gradually increased its investment in solar energy, geothermal energy and wind energy. In 2018, Kenya's non-hydropower clean energy accounted for 38% of the country's installed capacity and 49% of its power generation. The total investment in clean energy reached US$1.4 billion, the highest in history. This month, Kenya's total shipments were 93.66MW, of which Sungrow's shipments reached 90.63MW.

In terms of the overall export types of inverters, medium-sized machines accounted for 62.62%, small machines accounted for 22.32%, large machines accounted for 9.73%, and micro inverters accounted for 4.61%.