At the Smarter E Europe event – recently held in Munich, Germany – Growatt shared insights about the European market. It reports a slowdown in the residential segment in Central Europe due to lower demand, but Growatt VP Lisa Zhang said she expects more growth in the commercial and industrial (C&I) solar and storage sectors.
Amid faltering market conditions, Growatt plans to simultaneously increase and decrease system size. The company’s strategy is to shift focus to C&I storage applications while tapping into the fast-growing German DIY solar market. Lisa Zhang, vice president of the inverter manufacturer, had a meeting pv magazine during The Smarter E trade fair in Munich, Germany in June.
Zhang said Growatt has shipped about 20 GW of inverters in the past 12 months. Despite unexpected growth in South Asian and Latin American markets such as Mexico, Pakistan and China, she noted that European market growth fell short of expectations. She said the Italian and British markets are slowing due to falling electricity prices, the gradual elimination of subsidies and macroeconomic factors such as high inflation and high interest rates.
Growatt is entering new markets, with the company recently obtaining certification for the Japanese market. Against the backdrop of high electricity prices, a growing number of companies are choosing to combine solar energy and storage to power their operations.
Zhang said she expects this trend to continue in Europe. C&I energy storage in Europe is growing rapidly, supported by policies in several countries. Examples include the subsidies from the Italian Energy Community and the dynamic electricity prices in the Nordic region. These measures allow companies to reduce electricity costs while generating additional revenue through energy arbitrage, significantly improving return on investment.
The company has released a new C&I storage system. The hybrid inverter product, with an AC output power from 30 kW to 100 kW, supports multiple off-grid parallel operations to achieve a matching battery capacity from 30 kWh to 600 kWh. The solar and battery storage system can be used for self-consumption, peak shaving, time-of-use tariffs, creating a microgrid and providing backup power. The company said small business owners could see their electricity costs fall as a result.
The company is now seeing strong interest in its balcony storage system, which has gained widespread popularity in Germany. “It is important for us to gain a foothold in that market because it is also a gateway to the residential sector,” said Zhang.
Growatt has also developed a new storage system for balcony solar systems. The NOAH 2000 has a capacity of 2 kWh, with 1,800 W on the AC side. Two separate MPP trackers optimize the power output of the modules. The entire system is IP65 protected and can be used outdoors. And the battery can be used for both new and retrofit balcony PV systems.
Although the market for such systems in Germany is growing, it remains relatively limited, while the overall market volume is still small. But Zhang said customers buying balcony systems may be forced to expand to larger roof systems in the near future.
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