Wood Mackenzie analysis predicts 4.2GW of PV assets will run into premature failures in 2020
Solar energy repairs and maintenance costs are expected to grow to over $9bn by 2025, according to research by Wood Mackenzie.
The analysts said costs will hit $9.4bn by mid-decade as PV power systems nearing inverter end of life rise to 16% of the market (227GW) from about 5% currently.
Wood Mackenzie said Asia-Pacific will account for $4.1bn, Europe, Middle East and Africa $3.5bn and the Americas $1.8bn.
Wood Mackenzie principal analyst Daniel Liu said: “Inverter repowering is especially important in Europe, as more than 16GW of systems are currently over 10 years old. By 2025, that number will grow to 100GW.
“Ageing solar systems are an opportunity for repowering activities, while new projects can take advantage of advanced analytics.”
Solar inverters are estimated to need replacing every 10 years, but some systems present earlier faults, the company added.
Wood Mackenzie estimated that approximately 4.2GW of solar assets will run into premature failures in 2020, with this annual total jumping to 36GW in 2025.