The potential growth space of MLPE innovative inverter market is broad

preface:
From the current market dynamics, the integration of MLPE and components may become the development trend of mainstream products in the future.
As an inverter subdivision circuit, MLPE has a high industry growth rate and broad market space in the future.
Author | Fang Wen
Picture source | Network
AI core world | industry | MLPE innovative inverter market has broad potential growth space
Distributed photovoltaic high-speed penetration
It is of great significance to increase the proportion of renewable energy in China’s total energy consumption to achieve the [dual carbon] goal.
In 2021, China’s photovoltaic power generation will reach 325.9 billion kilowatt-hours, accounting for less than 4.0% of the country’s total power generation in the whole year. There is still broad space for photovoltaic power generation to increase.
Photovoltaic systems are becoming increasingly popular in household, industrial and commercial fields, and the proportion of new installed capacity of distributed photovoltaic in the world has increased significantly, and distributed photovoltaic has entered a period of rapid development.
With the economic and policy support, the demand for distributed PV is strong, and the proportion is expected to increase from 44% in 2022 to 49% in 2025, and the annual compound growth rate of installed capacity is about 38%.
In 2022, China’s new distributed installed capacity is expected to reach more than 50GW, accounting for 60% of the new installed capacity in China.
In the distributed photovoltaic scenario, MLPE solution has obvious advantages
MLPE, (Module Level Power Electronics, referred to as MLPE), refers to the power electronic equipment that can finely control single or several photovoltaic modules in the solar photovoltaic system.
It mainly realizes the functions of inverter, monitoring, power optimization, shutdown, and fine control of photovoltaic modules.
Thanks to the high-speed penetration of distributed photovoltaic, the component-level power electronics represented by micro inverters also began to emerge in the market.
Safety, intelligence and flexibility have become an important measurement standard for photovoltaic inverters. The technical advantages of MLPE will also become increasingly prominent, and the future market space is broad.
The rapid growth of MLPE is due to the increased policy requirements for the safety of photovoltaic power generation systems.
The increase in the proportion of distributed PV leads to frequent security problems, and security inevitably becomes a systemic factor that local governments and users need to focus on.
The accumulated DC voltage of the whole line in the PV string can reach 600V-1500V high voltage, resulting in two major safety hazards, namely DC high voltage risk and rescue risk.
For this kind of safety hazard, many countries around the world have successively issued mandatory regulations or standards, requiring that the voltage of the module be reduced to the safe range in a short time.
The United States was the first country to put forward the concept of component-level shutdown and implement relevant mandatory regulations. Subsequently, Canada, Germany, Mexico, Australia and other countries have issued policies and regulations. MLPE solutions will gradually become the standard configuration of global distributed PV.
MLPE Innovates Inverter Market
As the power of supporting photovoltaic modules increases, the rated output power of MLPE inverter is also increasing.
The increased power of single module improves product compatibility, directly drives the expansion of application scenarios and scope of MLPE products, and accelerates the continuous penetration of products.
In order to reduce the demand for raw materials and components and reduce the cost of assembly, integration and operation and maintenance, it is a new possibility for MLPE components to be directly integrated into PV modules.
From the current market dynamics, the integration of MLPE and components may become the development trend of mainstream products in the future.
As an inverter subdivision circuit, MLPE has a high industry growth rate and broad market space in the future.
With the gradual maturity of the distributed photovoltaic market, the photovoltaic system will develop towards a safer and more intelligent direction, and the technical advantage value of MLPE will also become increasingly prominent.
Local governments have paid more attention to the safety of distributed PV. In the future, it is expected to see more cities improve their safety standards and promote the development of MLPE (module level electronic equipment) such as miniature inverters, optimizers, turn-offs, etc. in the domestic market.
As the domestic government and users gradually pay more attention to distributed photovoltaic security, MLPE products continue to reduce costs and increase efficiency.
The development of MLPE products in China is expected to start. The Chinese market with huge installed capacity has brought huge space for the development of MLPE, and the domestic inverter market has further expanded.
AI core world | industry | MLPE innovative inverter market has broad potential growth space
The market growth space of micro inverter is large
The share of distributed PV installed capacity is high due to the high component price in 2021, which leads to a high share of distributed installed capacity with relatively low price sensitivity.
Combined with the growth attribute maintenance of distributed photovoltaic, the subsequent share is expected to continue to increase. In 2026, the distributed share will increase from 44% to 49%.
The penetration rate of micro inverters in distributed photovoltaic market is expected to increase from 9% to 19%. It is expected that the annual shipment volume of micro inverters will reach 33GW in 2026.
Micro inverters are positioned in the application scenarios of small and medium power segments of PV, and are suitable for regions with relatively low price sensitivity and focus on application attributes and brands.
Domestic inverter manufacturers have laid out MLPE in succession to reduce costs and increase efficiency. Micro-reverse manufacturers are expanding to high power and continuously reducing the cost of single watt.
Domestic micro-reverse manufacturers generally raised their shipping expectations for next year. Next year, Hemai Micro-reverse expected to ship 2.5-3 million units, Deye expected to ship 1.5-2 million units, and Yuneng expected to ship 8 million+components, both of which increased by 1-2 times year-on-year.
AI core world | industry | MLPE innovative inverter market has broad potential growth space
The advantages of micro inverters in the distributed market are amplified
The micro inverter can track the maximum power point of each PV module separately, and then merge into the AC power grid after the inverter, so as to realize the fine adjustment and monitoring of the output power of each PV module.
Micro inverters in the distributed market rely on their advantages in terms of security, power generation efficiency, reliability and flexibility, and the global photovoltaic module level power electronic security requirements continue to deepen.
The penetration rate of micro inverters in distributed photovoltaic market is expected to increase from 9% to 19%. It is expected that the annual shipment volume of micro inverters will reach 33GW in 2026.
Overall, the global micro inverter market is still in the development stage, with highly concentrated suppliers and obvious head effect.
Due to the high technical threshold of the micro inverter, the R&D and design need a certain investment, the speed of technology change is fast, and there are certain barriers to entry. The domestic listed public TV includes Yuneng Technology, Hemai Shares and Deye Shares.
With the booming growth of the MLPE market and the accumulation of previous relevant technical channels, [PV+distributed share+MLPE penetration] multi-dimensional support for the booming growth of demand for micro inverters.
Domestic enterprises have shown strong competitiveness with product iteration and channel cultivation, and the market share is expected to continue to rise, and the overseas market will bring high profit space.
AI core world | industry | MLPE innovative inverter market has broad potential growth space
ending:
With the gradual maturity of the distributed photovoltaic market, the photovoltaic system will develop towards a safer and more intelligent direction, and the technical advantage value of MLPE will also become increasingly prominent.
Local governments have paid more attention to the safety of distributed PV. In the future, it is expected to see more cities improve their safety standards and promote the development of MLPE such as micro inverters, optimizers, turn-offs, etc. in the domestic market.
Some references: Titanium media: “Photovoltaic inverter ushers in the window of new technology change, how does MLPE grow into a big market?”, future think tank: “The rise of MLPE track under the new situation”