The 30 largest engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) companies in the global photovoltaic (PV) industry installed 30% of the world's non-residential PV capacity in 2013, up 5pp from 2012, according to IHS.
"We see integrators in the US and China rapidly executing very large pipelines, which accounts for some of the notable growth last year," said Josefin Berg, senior analyst for solar demand at IHS.
In a global market where non-residential PV additions climbed 20% during the past year, a company like China's TBEA Sun Oasis quadrupled its installations to approximately 1GW-enough for the integrator to come in at second place. TBEA was surpassed only by number one Arizona-based First Solar, which had doubled its installation capacity in non-residential markets to more than 1.1GW.
Overall, the share of the 30 largest integrators in the non-residential solar market was up from 25% in 2012.
Nine of the world's top 10 entities are China- and US-based integrators that actively pursue large utility-scale projects, mainly conducted in their home markets. Growing local opportunities will propel these leading companies to gain further market share.
The only Europe-based integrator among the top 10 in 2013 was Abengoa of Spain, which is pursuing opportunities in the US to build up installations worth 260MW.
IHS said it predicts that this trend will continue in 2014 as China and North America maintain their momentum as the markets to watch for large utility-scale PV.
The firm also said currently under construction in the US are at least 2.5GW worth of projects larger than 20MW, and plans for another 2.1GW are afoot in China. Globally, 123 projects larger than 20MW are also being built elsewhere besides the two countries, amounting to some 7.6GW in total. The progress of these projects will significantly impact the EPC ranking in 2014, but First Solar's current construction of 770MW is likely to allow the integrator to keep its position within the top three.
"The road from first planning a project to final execution is paved with challenges," Berg noted. "Even after permits have been secured, PPAs signed and suppliers identified, troubles in obtaining finance or overhauled government policies can block or delay projects. This is particularly true in emerging markets, but financing can be a challenge also in more mature European markets."
Meanwhile in the UK, the highly competitive PV environment has left two major PV integrators, S.A.G. Solarstrom AG and Wirsol AG, insolvent in the midst of high ambitions. As a result, Wirsol had to sell off its 100MW pipeline to Conergy AG.
It may seem a paradox that in the midst of a booming market for utility-scale PV in the UK - a market forecast to install 1.2GW of non-residential PV in 2014 - system integrators struggle to stay afloat. The main reason is the high financial risk that EPC suppliers take on, as the tight profit margins under the UK's trimmed ROC-scheme keep final investor risk adverse. The system integrator is expected to cover all costs during the construction process, until the projects have been accredited for the Renewable Obligation Credits (ROC), a process that can take more than six months after project completion, said IHS.
"This long process put system integrators at risk of running out of cash before the project is sold and paid for," Berg observed. "Consequently, the most successful EPC companies building PV plants in the UK are either backed by venture capital, or form part of larger construction groups."
