As a leader in the global photovoltaic inverter industry, Chinese manufacturers provide convenience for the localization of silicon carbide devices: in recent years, the photovoltaic inverter market pattern has changed greatly, and Chinese inverter manufacturers have changed from followers to leaders. According to wood Mackenzie data, in the top 10 inverter shipments in the world in 2020, there were six suppliers from China, namely Huawei, Sungrow Power Supply Co.Ltd(300274) , gurewart, Ginlong Technologies Co.Ltd(300763) , Sineng Electric Co.Ltd(300827) and Jiangsu Goodwe Power Supply Technology Co.Ltd(688390) . Huawei inverter shipments accounted for 23% of the world, ranking first Sungrow Power Supply Co.Ltd(300274) of the world’s shipments accounted for 19%, ranking second. According to wood Mackenzie, Huawei and Sungrow Power Supply Co.Ltd(300274) have shipped more than 100gw in total, gradually becoming the leader. Silicon carbide power devices are the key components of photovoltaic inverters, and their value accounts for a relatively high proportion. The development of China’s photovoltaic inverter market will increase the demand for silicon carbide devices.
Using silicon carbide scheme can effectively improve the conversion efficiency of photovoltaic inverter, improve power density and reduce weight and volume: silicon carbide has excellent photoelectric performance. The band gap width of SiC is about 3 times that of silicon, and its thermal conductivity is 3.3 times that of silicon. The wide band gap makes it possible to operate stably in high temperature environment. The high thermal conductivity means that silicon carbide devices can reduce the cooling structure and reduce the weight and volume of the system, For example, the silicon carbide diode can basically achieve zero forward recovery voltage in the opening process, and there is no excess carrier recombination process in the closing process, which can reduce the recovery loss of the inverter and improve the switching efficiency. According to the industrial research, the overall system efficiency of the photovoltaic inverter with silicon carbide scheme can be improved by about 1% – 2%, the energy loss can be reduced by more than 50%, and the volume and weight can be reduced by about 40% ~ 60%, greatly reducing the hourly power cost and installation and maintenance cost of the system.
At this stage, silicon-based IGBT + silicon carbide SBD scheme is mainly adopted, with large room for silicon carbide cost reduction, and the penetration rate in photovoltaic field is expected to accelerate in the next five years: silicon carbide MOS scheme can significantly improve power generation efficiency. However, since the price of silicon carbide module is still 3-4 times that of silicon-based IGBT and the cost is high, at this stage, the industry mostly adopts silicon-based IGBT + silicon carbide SBD hybrid scheme, replacing FRD with SiC SBD to reduce recovery loss Improve power efficiency. According to the official websites of leading PV inverter companies, large international manufacturers have laid out silicon carbide solutions, such as Infineon, Ansenmei and Fuji Electric, which have realized large-scale application. China Sungrow Power Supply Co.Ltd(300274) also launched the first PV inverter using SiC MOSFET devices in 2014 and applied it on a large-scale in 2017. With the maturity of silicon carbide production technology, the cost of silicon carbide will be further reduced. The value created by using silicon carbide scheme to improve conversion efficiency will offset the cost of silicon carbide and improve the penetration of silicon carbide in photovoltaic field. According to industry research, with the decline of silicon carbide cost, the penetration rate of SiC in the field of photovoltaic inverter is expected to reach 30% – 50% in 2025. We expect it to have a market of nearly 7 billion in the field of photovoltaic and energy storage, with broad prospects.
Related subjects: it is suggested to pay attention to Starpower Semiconductor Ltd(603290) , Zhuzhou Crrc Times Electric Co.Ltd(688187) , Wuxi Nce Power Co.Ltd(605111) , Yangzhou Yangjie Electronic Technology Co.Ltd(300373) , Macmic Science & Technology Co.Ltd(688711) , Sanan Optoelectronics Co.Ltd(600703) , Tianyue advanced, Roshow Technoiogy Co.Ltd(002617) , Phenix Optical Company Limited(600071) .
Risk warning: SiC technology is difficult, and the product R & D is less than the expected risk; The relevant expansion projects are less than the expected risks; SiC costs remain high and the penetration rate is lower than the expected risk.
