LONDON (May 30, 2019) – IHS Markit (Nasdaq: INFO), a world leader in critical information, analytics and solutions, announced today that its world-leading solar analysts will be present at the SNEC 13th International Photovoltaic Power Generation and Smart Energy Exhibition & Conference in Shanghai, China, on June 3-6, 2019 in order to discuss their latest research and analysis.

Edurne Zoco , research director for solar and energy storage at IHS Markit, will deliver one of the keynote speeches at the Conference Opening of SNEC 2019 on June 3, entitled “The Growing Importance of Distributed Generation: The Impact of Solar and Energy Storage.” She will discuss the short-term outlook for battery and solar costs, technology enablers, and the current trend of electricity consumers becoming prosumers, highlighting the countries where this is most prevalent.

Sam Wilkinson , associate director for energy storage and batteries at IHS Markit, will deliver a keynote speech at the SNEC 2019 International Energy Storage and Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Conference , held concurrently with the Photovoltaic Power Generation and Smart Energy Exhibition & Conference. Speaking on June 5, Wilkinson will present a speech entitled “What is the future of batteries in the power sector?”, discussing key developments, challenges and opportunities in the battery sector and the impact on distributed power generation.

Separately, IHS Markit will hold its third PV Market Workshop on June 5, where top solar and energy storage analysts will present their analyses and insights on global photovoltaic (PV) demand, module supply chain, battery technology trends and energy storage. Key insights include:

Global solar PV demand to reach 129 GW in 2019

The global solar PV market is forecast to bounce back from single-digit growth in 2018 to achieve a 25 percent expansion in 2019, reaching 129 gigawatts worth of solar installations. Depending on the timing of new policy announcements, China, the world’s largest PV market, could see similar volumes as it did in 2018, when 45 gigawatts were installed. The majority of 2019 installations will come during the second half of the year, according to the latest PV Installations Tracker by IHS Markit.

“Right now, the outlook for China remains highly uncertain, as the final support scheme for PV is yet to be announced,” Zoco said. “The exact volume of the Chinese PV market this year will depend on the amount of capacity awarded in tenders and the timing of the tenders. Any delay in policy could shift significant volumes into 2020, which would impact the whole market outlook for the second half of 2019.”

Bifacial technology set to account for one-third of global solar module production by 2022

Bifacial and half-cell technologies are rapidly gaining momentum in the solar market due to their improvements in power output compared to traditional modules, along with their low technology implementation barriers and minimal capex investment requirements. For these reasons, manufacturers are increasingly switching to bifacial production lines and are actively promoting this technology to developers and engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firms.

Bifacial technology is, however, facing some short-term obstacles, including higher production costs, difficulties in product manufacturing standardization and the lack of final industry standards. These challenges are still temporarily limiting acceptance from buyers and creating difficulties in the financing of new projects relying on this technology. However, as consolidation continues among module suppliers, IHS Markit has seen manufacturers gaining strength and accelerating the promotion and acceptance of new bifacial products in the market. China will play a key role in the global acceptance of new module technologies. Field data from demonstration projects under the Top Runner program will become a major catalyst for the global acceptance of this product by international EPCs, developers and financial institutions.

With market penetration exceeding expectations in 2018, bifacial is now on track to account for one-third of global module production in 2022, up from less than 2 GW in 2017, according to the latest PV Advanced Module Technologies report by IHS Markit.

Battery energy storage installations to amount to 140 GWh from 2019 to 2025

Energy storage is critical for enabling power systems that are heavily reliant on renewable energy and batteries will play an important role in this transition. IHS Markit predicts that the deployment of grid-connected battery energy storage will continue to grow and forecasts that nearly 140 GWh will be installed globally between 2019 and 2025, according to the Grid-Connected Energy Storage Market Tracker .

The flexibility and scalability of batteries will enable a wide range of applications, from optimizing solar self-consumption in the residential sector to implementing large-scale systems that provide grid balancing services or renewable firming. However, an increasingly important driver is the co-location of batteries with utility-scale PV plants.

“China is quickly emerging as one of the most important stationary energy storage markets and in 2019 it will become the second-largest market globally, behind the United States, in terms of annual installations,” Wilkinson said. “It will remain a major market in the coming years, largely driven by an increasing need to integrate large amounts of renewables, as it pursues highly aggressive targets for solar deployment in particular.”

Li-ion batteries to dominate energy storage market

Driven not only by a global push to electrify the transport sector but also by the growing opportunity for grid-connected energy storage, demand for Lithium Ion (Li-ion) batteries is projected to grow to over 500 GWh by 2024. The rapid expansion of this industry is driving strong investment throughout the supply chain, from critical raw materials to battery-cell manufacturing, as a wide range of companies look to take advantage of this trend.

As a result, IHS Markit predicts that by 2020, global Li-ion cell manufacturing capacity will reach over 900 GWh, compared to just 220 GWh in 2017. Investments are led by China, which is aggressively pursuing a leading position in the supply chain and is on track to account for over three-quarters of that capacity.

MEDIA, PLEASE NOTE: Solar and energy storage analysts from IHS Markit will be available for commentary during the SNEC 2019 June 3-6, 2019. To schedule an interview before, during or after the show, and/or join the IHS Markit PV Market Workshop on June 5, 2019, contact SungHa Park at sungha.park@ihsmarkit.com .

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