In the report IMS concludes that shipments of inverters rated below 35kW and above 500kW are growing at nearly 50% faster than the rest of the market.

The PV inverter market has achieved remarkable growth in the past few years, overcoming the collapse of the Spanish market to produce record shipments in 2009, a feat set to be broken again in 2010 with close to 17 GW of shipments forecast by IMS Research.

This has attracted many new entrants to the market - especially suppliers already active in similar markets such as Industrial Drives and UPS Power Systems. However while these suppliers have transferred their expertise in high power and produced large central inverters, it is the smaller three-phase products which are predicted to capture greater share in the short-term.

IMS Research’s recently published report has revealed that shipments of small three-phase inverters rated around 10-20kW are forecast to grow by around 170% in 2010. Inverters rated at over 500kW are projected to grow at a similar rate but capturing a smaller share of the market.

In the longer- term however, IMS predicts much faster growth for these larger inverters with utility-scale installations emerging rapidly, though due to their inherently lower price per Watt, these inverters will still only account for 10% of revenues in 2014.

IMS Research PV analyst Tom Haddon commented, “recently, demand for PV inverters in commercial installations appears to be splitting into two clear categories: very small three-phase products or very large central inverters. While mid-sized central inverters offer a lower initial investment cost, shipments of inverters in the 10-20kW range have increased massively in 2010, with a range of new models being released by major suppliers such as SMA, Kaco, SolarMax and Power-One. These products offer greater system design flexibility, easier installation and higher energy yields, and also better grid integration, a crucial factor given the medium voltage directive and reactive power legislation in Germany.”

Although it is forecast that these units will lose some market share to larger central inverters in the longer term as the emerging markets of the USA, India and China drive demand for MW sized sub-stations, in the medium term, smaller three-phase models are forecast to be one of the prime revenue generators as their adaptable nature can be applied to installations ranging from small commercial to multi-megawatt utility-scale installations.