Yole forcasts $44 B inverter market to exceed $55 B by 2016
IGBT-modules market to reach $1.64 billion in 2012; report predicts 29% CAGR from 2011 to 2016
Inverter market forecast: 2010 to 2016
Continued strong interest in green energy, power electronics for electricity conversion is experiencing important growth. Starting with a total inverter market size of almost $44 billion in 2012, Yole Développement estimates that it should reach more than $55 billion by 2016, with a high CAGR for applications such as EV/HEVs and renewable energy. In its recent reports, Inverter Technology Trends & Market Expectations, Yole anticipates the overall shipments of inverters for every power range should reach almost 28 million units. As a consequence, semiconductor power modules market—mostly driven by IGBT modules—will also reach important values: $1.64 billion in 2012 thanks to EV/HEV applications having a 29% CAGR from 2011 to 2016.
The report highlights the adoption of new passive components like super capacitors, developments around connectors, as well as power signal and communication features. A general growth trend of power electronics will also drive more standard components such as resistors and in total Yole estimates that the passive and connectivity components market should reach $2.7 billion This report shows, however, that SiC and GaN-based switches are not yet ready to penetrate the market in high volume: indeed, technology still needs improvements and cost reduction. Yole believes that mass adoption will not come before 2015. In addition, compound semiconductors will still compete with silicon based technologies such as fast IGBTs and super-junction MOSFETs, especially driven by new inverter architectures like NPC (neutral-point clamped) at the power modules level. Yole Developpement
