Between 15th and 17th May 2019, the Intersolar Europe fair took place in Munich, which has been a meeting point in the solar field for 28 years.
VP Solar took part of various meetings with the greatest companies worldwide, collecting evolution elements, trends and news about what is going to influence the solar sector for the following months.
5 trends useful to evolve strategies in business development
Throughout the fair, the following 5 trends emerged, and these are useful in order to elaborate strategies of business development in this field.
1] The growth of new-installed PV in Europe
The new-installed photovoltaic in Europe will continue to grow in 2019 (at least 50% more compared to the previous year). It is a sensational data, and it confirms the trend of 2018, proving how photovoltaic is regaining importance both in the European market and in the PV manufacturer market worldwide.
Nevertheless, a such significant growth could generate some difficulties, including supply delays and shortage, as we experienced during the last months for some products.
2] The global PV market will grow, and China has a great influence
The global photovoltaic market will grow. This growth will depend on how many KW China is going to install in Q3 and Q4, taking into account that during the early months of 2019 the market in this area was a bit weak.
In particular, prices of PV modules will depend a lot on what is going to happen in China in the following months; current price tensions (especially for specific power classes) could be confirmed in case of high demand.
3] Digitalisation of energy and integration with other technologies
Digitalisation of energy and integration with other technologies: this is demonstrated by the inclusion of Intersolar within “The Smarter E Europe” together with 3 more fairs:
- ees Europe (electrical energy storage) for storage systems
- Power2drive Europe for electric vehicles charging systems
- EM-Power for smarter use of energy
Inverters are day-to-day becoming an important platform in order to manage energy in a smart way. This is the reason why manufacturers are presenting systems with integrated batteries, electric vehicles charging systems and building automation.
4] Storage, a growing market
Storage: the market grows, especially in countries like Germany, where commercial applications for peak-shaving are becoming cheaper. At the same time, also market opportunities for residential systems are increasing. As always, the theme of “duration of guarantees” gains importance, as guarantees are fundamental in products with batteries.
Moreover, various significant manufacturers are investing and dedicating resources in the development of electric mobility; this is the reason why delivery periods for storage systems increased.
5] The development of E-mobility in Europe
The e-mobility market is expanding in an inharmonic way compared to already-developed regions (like Norway, Netherlands and China). Some regions are upcoming (like France and Germany) and other regions are in accentuated delay (like Italy).
Renewable energy production, especially PV production, becomes strategic in order to charge batteries of electric vehicles with “green” energy, granting a distributed power. Therefore, charging stations become an integral part of a building’s energetic system. Simultaneously, this represents a big opportunity of development for professionals that belong to our sector.
The general atmosphere at Intersolar Europe was positive, with promises of development
Above all, the general atmosphere at Intersolar was definitely positive, with development expectations for photovoltaic and electric energetic technologies in Europe.
We hope this augurs well for Italy too!
