Finding the Right Partners Key for Manufacturers in New Jersey’s SREC Market

Almost anyone in the solar industry could tell you that New Jersey’s SREC market will provide significant opportunities over the coming years. What is less clear is how individual firms can benefit from these opportunities.

To date, a few key players have dominated module and inverter supply in New Jersey’s SREC market.

• On the module side, three manufacturers have dominated the market: SunPower, Sharp, and Suntech have accounted for 57% of installed module volume in New Jersey’s SREC market
• On the inverter side, the top three manufacturers command an even larger market share: Satcon, PV Powered (now owned by Advanced Energy), and SMA have owned nearly 80% of the market

With overcapacity set to become a significant challenge for manufacturers in the PV industry, these numbers present a daunting picture. If, as expected, demand wanes in key European markets, healthy markets like New Jersey will become increasingly important to the industry. Manufacturers from around the world will be trying to steal market share from the six firms named above while facing stiff competition from other new and existing market participants.

Fortunately, for those firms looking to gain market share in New Jersey, competition amongst installers in the state is very different than competition amongst manufacturers. The installer market is highly fragmented with only SunPower controlling a significant market share (~25%). In fact, the rest of the installation market is so fragmented that there are well over 100 firms actively installing projects and only three have a market share greater than 5%.

All of this is to say that New Jersey is a PV market ripe with the opportunity for partnerships. In order to benefit from this opportunity, manufacturers should:

• identify the installers and distributers who can help them to succeed in the state,
• be prepared to provide not only competitive pricing but also support in other areas (such as marketing or engineering) to help their partners grow, and
• move quickly to form strong partnerships; their competitors will surely be seeking to do the same, so time is of the essence.

ClearSky Advisors offers continuous state-by-state and regional analysis of the US market, helps businesses to find the partners they need to succeed, and conducts ongoing research with installers and distributers in key North American PV markets.

Illustration photo by: Kamoteus