Sonnen, Senec and LG Chem dominate growing PV storage market in Europe

The European PV storage market is growing at a rapid pace. An analysis published by EuPD Reseach claims that in the first three months of 2017, more than 50 companies offered over 300 storage products. In this plurality of market players three companies stand out that alone constitute a market share of 44% in Europe. With 22%, Sonnen has the largest market share of storage systems, followed by Senec (12%) and LG Chem (10%), according to EuPD research analysts (see chart).

Martin Ammon, Head of Energy Economics at EuPD Research, said that Sonnen profits from its early decision to expand abroad. This strategy has now been adopted by other established providers in Germany. Therefore, the growing market benefits from falling prices for battery systems.

On Monday, the German Solar Industry Association (BSW-Solar) also published its current “storage price monitor”. According to this, the costs for storage systems up to a nominal capacity of 10 KWh have decreased by about 40 percent over the past four years. For larger battery systems up 30 KWh the prices have even halved within the same period.

“Due once again to the drop in prices, solar energy storage is becoming increasingly attractive. Accordingly, the demand for solar power storage will continue to rise,” explains Carsten Körnig, CEO of BSW-Solar.

For example in 2016 about 20,000 new installations were added, totaling 60,000 PV storage systems in operation in Germany. The PV storage market in the country is expected to continue to grow and to reach 30,000 new installations for the year 2017, as EuPD Research says.