Notable Changes in the Australian Panel and Inverter Market!

A significant change is sweeping the Australian solar industry.

SunWiz understands that retailers are being placed under significant price pressures, owing to rising prices of solar panels, falling feed-in tariffs, the impact upon the economy of lockdowns, export limits, and public concerns about the proposed ‘solar tax’.

The impact: for the first time in many years, the number one inverter manufacturer is not European in origin.

As SunWiz’s MarketView services show, this is just part of a trend in recent months towards lower-priced equipment.

The chart below illustrates a trend away from European inverter manufacturers towards the leading Chinese inverter manufacturers. Even Module-Level Power Electronics (e.g. microinverters) are losing some market share.

And the trend is also affecting solar retailers’ choice of panels. The chart below indicates premium panel brands have lost significant market share.

We see that there’s dramatic changes afoot within the market share of individual manufacturers of both inverters and panels. In the inverter market, the erosion of the leader’s market share is clearly shown in the chart below – what’s also interesting is the ups-and-downs of the manufacturers jostling for position.

As the prices of panels trends upwards, it seems that some manufacturers can temporarily gain market share by being the last to raise their prices. However, this effect isn’t very sticky, as shown by the dynamic moves amongst the market share of individual panel manufacturers in the chart below.

In our current environment, the challenge is that reducing prices also reduces total profit, and many businesses already have narrow margins. It’s a short term focus that can distract solar businesses from addressing the foundational factors that drive profitability: differentiation, sales skills, and business process automation.

SunWiz’s MarketView draws upon six sources of market share information that represent over 30% of total Australian installations each month. For more information, click here.

Interval Meter Data Tool Disclaimer

The Interval Meter Data Tool is designed to convert standard form meter data for the OpenSolar platform.

Users are responsible for meeting the requirements of the data that needs to be uploaded to the tool, which extends to but is not limited to

The completeness and accuracy of the data
Ensuring that there are no missing records
Uploading the data in one of the compatible intervals (15m, 30m or 1h).

Data uploaded to the Interval Meter Data Tool should not contain multiple datasets. In the case an excel file is uploaded, only the first sheet will be considered.

The accuracy of the output is dependent on the user’s dataset, therefore SunWiz does not guarantee the accuracy of the output.

The user must acknowledge that the output of the tool is beyond the control of SunWiz, and they must ensure that the data is accurate on their own behalf.

In the event that the program runs into an issue, the user will be issued with warnings or solutions to address or resolve the issue.

If the user requires additional support, they can avail it as a separate service from SunWiz

Warranties on performance

The Interval Meter Data tool from SunWiz attempts to convert most frequently occurring types of standard meter data file types in specific formats for the purpose of being used on the OpenSolar platform. Unless mentioned otherwise, SunWiz does not extend any guarantee of any kind, either expressed or implied, on the limited success of the Interval Meter Data Tool and the extent of it’s automation. Depending on the user’s upload, the program may require additional inputs, the training for which is not included in the purchase of this service and can be purchased separately.

Input requirements

The Interval Meter Data Tool accepts data in the 15-minute, 30-minute and 60-minute(hourly) intervals. In case the file is uploaded in an excel format (*.xls, *.xlsx, *.xlsm), only the first sheet of the file will be considered. Our tool is required to accept raw meter data, usually highlighted as ‘E’ data in its standard format; and therefore SunWiz does not guarantee that all data formats will be accepted.

For complete automation, the file must adhere to an acceptable standard format. In the case of an issue, the user will be provided with instructions by the tool on how it can be resolved. Warnings will be issued if the data is incompatible, incomplete with missing records and if multiple datasets are uploaded at once.

M	T	W	T	F	S	S
		1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
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A significant change is sweeping the Australian solar industry.

The impact: for the first time in many years, the number one inverter manufacturer is not European in origin.

Interval Meter Data Tool Disclaimer

Warranties on performance

Quality of inputs

Input requirements

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