Solar power a good investment: report

Solar inverters convert solar power from DC to AC.

A new report on the global solar power industry says that return on investment from solar power is higher than on any other renewable energy source. "Global Solar Inverters Markets," released by SBI Energy, asserts that the cost of solar power production will decrease by half every ten years, thanks to large-scale technological improvements. The cost of power generation will reach $1 per watt by 2020 and as little as $0.50 per watt by 2030. The payback period for a typical PV project has also come down to 3-5 years from the earlier 7-10 years.

Large-scale adoption of PV technology and the emergence of low-cost production sites in China, Taiwan and other Asian markets would further reduce the cost of production in coming years.

Solar inverters convert solar power from DC power to AC power and as such are integral devices to any grid-tied PV installation. The PV industry has been one of the fastest growing renewable energy industries in the last decade with large-scale installations in developed and developing economies. Since 2000, cumulative PV installations have grown at a compound annual growth rate of 35 per cent, reaching 40 GW globally in 2010, and the market is estimated to reach 400 GW by 2020. Meanwhile, SBI Energy estimates that the global PV inverters market, currently valued between $5.5- 5.8 billion, will touch $7.5 billion in 2015.

"During 2011-2012, we expect a short-term lull in the European Union PV market, primarily due to FiT rate cuts and regulations on farm land usage for ground mount installations," states Arun Kumar, SBI Energy analyst and author of the report. "But this will be offset by installations in the high growth markets of North America and Asia, and China in particular."

China is the other fast-growing market, which is likely to reach the 1 GW cumulative installation mark in 2011. India and the rest of the Asia-Pacific region hold long-term growth potential with clear government road maps for increasing the share of renewable energy generation to reach 2020 targets.

The report covers the PV component market, with a detailed analysis of PV cells, modules, wafers, polysilicon and inverters. It also provides information on historical developments in PV inverter markets as well as on growth, size, volume of business and general trends in technological developments.