30% Growth in Inverter Shipments Catapults PrimeVOLT into 2nd Place

(Taipei) The results for PV inverter shipments in the first half of 2021 have now been released. Competition is heated up this year with PrimeVOLT, a major inverter marker, snapping at the heels of Delta, another Taiwanese company. Chinese and other imported inverter brands were left in the dust, catapulting PrimeVOLT into 2nd place in a fiercely competitive market.

PrimeVOLT is a local PV inverter manufacturer and the company has set a goal of 30% growth each year. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, customer delays and other variables this year, PrimeVOLT still managed to far exceed its goal of a 30% growth in shipment volumes in the first half of the year. While COVID-19, part shortages and rising part prices are set to bring new risks and challenges in the second half of the year, PrimeVOLT is still optimistic that its total shipments for the year will surpass its annual target.

A battle for supremacy is now taking place between string inverters and central inverters in the inverter market. Jimmy Chuang, General Manager of PrimeVOLT, states that while string inverters suffered from higher initial construction costs, central inverters have one fatal weakness: Any failure results in large-scale outages. Repairs are also difficult and may take anywhere from several weeks to two months to complete.

The development of solar power in Taiwan is now moving from roof-mounted systems to ground-based systems. Initially, some ground-based projects used the centralized model, but there has been a gradual shift to string inverters in line with international practice. PrimeVOLT is continuing to communicate with customers about the need to also look at material requirements, construction costs, future failure rates and operation & maintenance in addition to maximizing the power output of their system.

More and more projects are now turning away from central inverters to optimize overall generating performance and return on investment. Large, medium and small projects are now increasingly dominated by the string type. The full range of string inverter products offered by PrimeVOLT helped the company consolidate its position in the small and medium-sized market, making it the undisputed No. 1 in the rooftop market. Significant inroads have also been made in the large project market, giving PrimeVOLT a clear edge.

In the past, large projects may be enough to move a company several places up the market rankings, and vice versa. The increasing number of ground-based projects means that individual projects will have an even greater impact in the future. PrimeVOLT has been cultivating customers of all types over the years. Having accumulated up to 500 customers over the last decade, it does not rely on a single project site to keep up its numbers. The decision by many large ground-based projects to make PrimeVOLT their preferred supplier in recent years is of tremendous significance as well. (Yung-Chuan, Weng)