This report is subdivided into two sections.

• Section 1 covers the investment into the PV sector for 2016 and;
• Section 2 covers a brief aggregated analysis on equipment used in the solar PV sector in South Africa displaying the combined equipment used in installations throughout the PQRS data-set as from the year 2000.

Research Methodology

Our research methodology has been refined and added as a page to the PQRS website. Margins of error,data integrity and how the various parameters affect the quality of PQRS data is covered in more detail in that document.

R2bn invested in the private PV sector in 2016

With 120MW installed during 2016, the estimated commercial value for PV installations for the year 2016 can be calculated by converting the generation capacity into:

• Number of systems installed and
• Ave. cost per system installed.
  • The average cost for systems installed varied significantly from Jan 2016 to Dec 2016. This could have been attributed to a number of factors affecting the market such as the Rand dollar exchange rate during the start of 2016 and a declining module cost in rand per watt towards the end of 2016. In our special report for Jan 2017 we shared how values were calculated. In summary, prices varied between R60/w for systems that included storage where systems are in the region of 1-5kWp, all the way down to less than R11/w rates for grid tied systems, installed towards the end of the year and above 1MW on the other end of the scale.

Table 1 shows the number of systems installed throughout 2016 based on factors obtained from a similar study conducted in Feb 2016 by PQRS, where the aim of the Feb 2016 study was to identify the average system size over 4 ranges of PV system installations. It is important to note that values indicated in the “nr of installations” column are calculated values for systems estimated to have been installed during 2016 alone and a “wild-card” error margin would be applied to the values in columns 2,3 and 4. See our research methodology for more info on the “wild card” error margin.

Costs allocated to solar PV installations - 2016

Table 2 shows the potential minimum turnover for the PV sector in the event where sales volumes are aligned with Table 1. The PV Sector in “worst” case scenario exceeded R2bn in sales volume for the year 2016 assuming the lowest identified rate per watt PV installed and assuming that all modules that were sold were in fact installed. At the time of publishing the report it was known that a certain amount of modules may have been in storage as stock was secured at 2016 prices. This should not have a dramatic affect on values as the roll-over of stock from one year to the next would be an ongoing occurrence. Roll-over or stock in storage has not been taken into consideration for this report. In the event where the increase in sales for 2017 shows a 16% growth year-on-year as was the case for growth in sales from 2015 to 2016 (Graph 1.3.3); 2017 could see 136MW installed on a “conservative” margin of error philosophy keeping in mind that grid stability, exchange rate, installed cost per watt relative to grid power and the competitive environment will all affect growth for the sector.

Equipment Report

Values in this report are based on data contained in the PQRS database. The database currently consists of 138000 installations with an estimated generation capacity of 189MW. For more information on the reliability of the data and integrity of the report please read our research methodology. Results for this portion of the report is presented according to our "realistic" level of reporting which is described in more detail in our research methodology. With the publishing of these values, data contained in the database is simply displayed in a collated form without trying to create predictions of future brand growth, market share or the various economics associated with disparate types of equipment related to solar PV installations. This report reflects values associated to 4 types of equipment:

1. Modules
2. Inverters
3. Batteries
4. Mounting Structures

These four types of equipment typically represent the high value items used in solar PV systems as represented on the PQRS database. Names appear as they have been submitted and it may be that a listing reflects the supplier of the type of equipment opposed to an actual brand representing that specific type of equipment. As an example a contractor may have bought equipment from 'Supplier A' and all equipment may be branded with the exception of mounting structures. The listing would then be submitted using the brand name of the supplier as the brand name to represent the mounting structure, i.e. "Supplier A Mounting Structure". These instances have not been amended and names appear as submitted. Names not appearing in the lists of equipment were not known as that those brands even existed at the time of publishing the report.

Numbering of tables and graphs:

1. Modules
   1. Table 10.1 Brand availability in SA based on brands we are aware of.
   2. Table 10.3 Module brand preference in SA as listed at PQRS
      1. 33 Different brands of modules available in SA.
2. Inverters
   1. Table 20.1 Brand availability in SA based on brands we are aware of.
   2. Table 20.3 Inverter brand preference in SA as listed at PQRS
      1. 88 Brands of inverters available in SA
3. Batteries
   1. Table 30.1 Brand availability in SA based on brands we are aware of.
      1. 75 Different brand of batteries across three main technologies.
4. Mounting Structures
   1. Table 40.1 Brand availability in SA based on brands we are aware of.
   2. Table 40.3 Mounting Structure brand preference in SA as listed at PQRS

These four types of equipment typically represent the high value items used in solar PV systems as reflected in the PQRS database.

Modules

Table 10.1 Brand availability - Module Brands in Table 10.1 appear in alphabetical order and shows known module brands in SA as at Feb 2017.

Table 10.1 Module brand availability as at Feb. 2017

Nr.	Brand name	Nr.	Brand name	Nr.	Brand name	Nr.	Brand name
1	Amerisol	10	ET Solar	19	Jinko Solar	28	SunPower Solar
2	Aquasol	11	First Solar	20	Luxen	29	Suntech
3	Astronergy	12	GC Solar	21	Nura	30	Tenesol
4	Bosch	13	Hanwha	22	Renesola	31	Trina Solar
5	BYD (Art)	14	Hyundai	23	Renewsys	32	Winaico
6	Canadian Solar	15	IBC Solar	24	Set Solar	33	Yingli
7	Csun mono	16	ienergy	25	Shine
8	Eging	17	ILB Helios	26	Solar Frontier
9	Enersol	18	JA Solar	27	Solarworld		Table 10.1

    Table 10.3 Brand preference - Module brand "Unknown" denotes the generation capacity of listings where the brand name of the modules are not known. Please see the "unknown" and "listings" in our research methodology for clarity around the definition assigned to these terms. It should be noted that values that appear as '0' zero in Table 10.3 (at the lower end of the table) is an indication that although the brand is known, there are no listings in the data base where the brand was specified as being the brand used in that particular installation. This could be as a result of contractors or EPCs' not reflecting these brands when submitting data to the data base or because the column did not exist at the time of listing. The column capturing the brands of equipment used was only added towards the end of 2015 meaning that a substantial number of systems had been listed before making provision for listing equipment brand used. Let's clarify the statement in the above mentioned paragraph. Values indicated in table 10.3 are a collated version of the total PQRS database. If it is not listed, it is not reflected.

Table 10.3 Module brand preference in PQRS Data Feb. 2017

Nr.	Brand	Capacity
1	Unknown	128217
2	Canadian Solar	18845
3	Yingli	7836
4	Trina Solar	5992
5	First Solar	5629
6	Solarworld	4460
7	Renesola	4017
8	Jinko Solar	3841
9	Solar Frontier	2710
10	Mixed	2032
11	Nura	1277
12	BYD (Art)	1263
13	Shine	545
14	ET Solar	388
15	JA Solar	352
16	Hanwha	304
17	ILB Helios	300
18	Astronergy	275
19	Bosch	250
20	Renewsys (to be updated)	250
21	Luxen	165
22	Winaico	148
23	Suntech	113
24	Solairedirect Technologies (EnerSol & AquaSol)	85
25	Csun mono	41
26	ienergy	30
27	ienergy	30
28	Eging	13
29	SunPower Solar	12
30	Set Solar	8
31	Hyundai	6
32	Tenesol	4
33	IBC Solar	0
34	Amerisol	0
35	GC Solar	0
		189 438kWp
		Table 10.3

Inverters

Table 20.1 Brand availability - Brands are listed in alphabetical order and shows known inverter brands at the time of publishing this report.

Table 20.1 Inverter brand availability in SA as at Feb. 2017

Nr.	Brand name	Nr.	Brand name	Nr.	Brand name	Nr.	Brand name
1	ABB	23	Ellies	45	KACO	67	Selectronic
2	AE Renewables	24	Embassy Off-Grid	46	KLNE(Beijing Kinglong New Energy)	68	SF Sonic
3	AEG	25	Enersolis	47	Kyoto	69	Siemens
4	AEI Power GmbH	26	Enphase	48	Luminous	70	SMA
5	Anhui (EHE New Energy)	27	Exeron	49	Magnum	71	Socomec
6	APS	28	Extender	50	Meanwell	72	Solaredge
7	Axpert	29	Firefly	51	Mecer	73	Solarfox
8	Bosch	30	Friem	52	Microcare	74	Solar Frontier
9	Bright Black Inverter	31	Fronius	53	MLT (Karoo-PowerStar-Oasis)	75	Solax
10	CB Solar (Axpert)	32	Goodwe	54	MrPower Off-Grid	76	Soltra
11	Chint	33	GridMax	55	New Earth Energy (Akspert)	77	Steca
12	Consol	34	Growatt	56	NEXA Off-Grid	78	Studer Off-Grid
13	Cotek Off-grid	35	Hawkins Off-Grid	57	Omnik New Energy	79	Sunniva
14	Danfoss	36	Huawei	58	Omnipower Off-Grid	80	Sunsys by Socomec
15	Darfon - Micro inv.	37	Icon	59	Omron	81	Tenesol Energrid
16	Delta	38	IEnergy Micro inv.	60	Outback	82	TES Off-Grid
17	Devel Off-Grid	39	Imeon	61	Platinum	83	Tescom SS(Axpert)
18	Diehl AKO	40	Infini	62	ProLink	84	Tigo - Optimizer
19	Eaton	41	Ingeteam	63	RefuSol	85	Victron
20	Eco-Hybrid	42	INVT	64	Renesola	86	X-Hybrid
21	Ecco Off-Grid	43	JFY	65	Samil Power	87	ZeverSolar
22	Efacec Central inv	44	Jiangu	66	Schneider	88	Ziehl
							Table 20.1

    Table 20.3 Brand preference - "Unknown" denotes the generation capacity of listings where the brand name of the modules are not known. Please see the "unknown" and "listings" in our research methodology for clarity around the definition assigned to these terms. It should be noted that values that appear as '0' zero in Table 10.3 (at the lower end of the table) is an indication that although the brand is known, there are no listings in the data base where the brand was specified as being the brand used in that particular installation. This could be as a result of contractors or EPCs' not reflecting these brands when submitting data to the data base or because the column did not exist at the time of listing. The column capturing the brands of equipment used was only added towards the end of 2015 meaning that a substantial number of systems had been listed before making provision for listing equipment brand used. "Pump inverter / VSD" - This item does not indicate a brand but rather the type of inverter in question. This report does not cover brand names for Pump inverters or Variable Speed Drives. Some brands are not well represented in PQRS data such as inverter brands that used to primarily serve the off-grid market. The "unknown" inverter brand represents a substantial portion of inverters installed and these historically off-grid brands may very well be represented in the "unknown" column and could also be represented in the "mixed" column as Victron for example can be used in conjunction with other brands.

Table 20.3 Inverter brand preference in SA as listed at PQRS

Nr.	Capacity	Brand
1	44274	SMA
2	12575	Delta
3	12206	KACO
4	11079	Schneider
5	7792	Mecer & Axpert
6	7295	Microcare
7	3720	ABB
8	3413	Fronius
9	2283	Solaredge
10	1594	Imeon
11	1112	Goodwe
12	882	Diehl Ako Platinum
13	790	CHINT
14	720	Bright Black Inverter
15	420	Steca
16	346	MLT
17	168	Eversec
18	168	Ingeteam
19	132	Enphase
20	130	Mixed
21	113	Victron
22	96	Infinisolar
23	30	ienergy micro
24	25	Outback
25	24	Firefly
26	18	Zeversolar
27	10	AEG
28	9	Growatt
29	6	Samil
30	5	Advanced Energy
31	5	SolaX
32	3	Power Solutions Inv
33	1	Jiangu
34	1	Geyserwise
35	1	Cotec
36	1	Storm
37	1	APS
38	52092	Unknown
39	22501	Pump inv / VSD
40	3100	N/A
Total	189146 kWp	Table 20.3

Batteries

Brands are listed in alphabetical order and also arranged according to technology. No provision has been made to attempt breaking down technologies into sub-technologies for example Li-ion Manganese or Li-ion Phosphate or Lead acid separated into the various chemistries. Technologies represented are Lead Acid, Li-ion and flow type batteries available in SA as brands known to PQRS to be available locally at the time of publishing the report.

Nr.	Lead Acid	Nr.	Lead Acid
1	Aspen	30	Monbat
2	AGMG+	31	Mypower
3	BAE	32	Narada
4	Betta	33	North Star
5	BSB	34	Omnipower
6	Ceil (+NXT)	35	OMRON
7	Celtec	36	Panzerplatte Gel
8	CS3	37	Powerman
9	Delkor	38	Probe batteries
10	Deltec	39	Raylite (FNB)
11	Discovery	40	Ritar
12	Dixon	41	Royal
13	Duratec	42	Shoto
14	EnergyBox	43	Solar one
15	Enersys	44	Solatron
16	Enertec (Energizer)	45	Sonex
17	Excis (FNB)	46	Sonic
18	Exide	47	Sonnenschein
19	Fiamm	48	SonX
20	First National	49	Stride
21	General	50	Sukam
22	Gridswitch	51	Sunlight
23	Havano industries (IBT)	52	Tasol
24	Haze	53	Trojan
25	Hoppecke	54	UPS Direct
26	Kage	55	US Batteries
27	Matrix	56	Victron
28	Mecer	57	Vision
29	MHB	58	Willard
Li-ion
Nr.	Li-ion	Nr.	Li-ion
1	Akasol Neocube Li-ion	7	Tesla Powerwall
2	Blue Nova Li-ion	8	BMZ
3	FreedomWon Li-ion	9	Zettajoule
4	LG chem Li-ion	10	MyPower24
5	BattCo Li-ion	11	Extra2000 (SolaX)
6	Icon Li-ion	12	Victron
Flow
Nr.	Flow	Nr.	Flow
1	Redflow (ZBM)	4	Van. Red. Flow(REDT)
2	Imergy (Flow)	5	Aquion
3	VizN Redox Flow

Table 30.1 Brand availability

Mounting Structures

Nr.	Brand	Capacity
1	Unknown	152216,26
2	Schletter	16143,2
3	Pia Solar	10879
4	Valsa	2334,7
5	Safintra	1500
6	Rubicon	1378
7	Romano Structure	1247
8	Clipset	672
9	Renusol	590,5
10	S Flex	275
11	Illaanga	253
12	Clever Devices	196
13	Scnetler FS2	168
14	Tritec SA	160
15	Solarstrut	134,92
16	Terrafix	112
17	Clenergy	60
18	Knubix	41,25
19	Lock Solar	31
20	Custom	23,2
21	Chikolar	22
22	Solarworld	20
23	Lizard	18,78
24	Solsquare	2,7
25	AC/DC	2
Table 40.3		188480kWp

Table 40.3 Brand preference - "Unknown" denotes the generation capacity of listings where the brand name of the modules are not known. Please see the "unknown" and "listings" in our research methodology for clarity around the definition assigned to these terms. It should be noted that values that appear as '0' zero in Table 10.3 (at the lower end of the table) is an indication that although the brand is known, there are no listings in the data base where the brand was specified as being the brand used in that particular installation. This could be as a result of contractors or EPCs' not reflecting these brands when submitting data to the data base or because the column did not exist at the time of listing. The column capturing the brands of equipment used was only added towards the end of 2015 meaning that a substantial number of systems had been listed before making provision for listing equipment brand used.