SMA Group, a German-based manufacturer and supplier of photovoltaic inverters, in a bid to compete with Chinese PV inverter suppliers and capture the price-sensitive Indian market, said it is revising its pricing to make its products more affordable for Indian consumers. The company, with focus on utility and commercial solutions in India, held a market share of 30-40 per cent in 2015. However, this dropped eventually to 15 per cent due to market consolidation and increased competition from lower-cost Chinese competitors.
Jürgen Reinert, CEO, SMA Group, highlighted India’s price-sensitive nature and outlined the group’s plans for the Indian market, “India is a price-sensitive market, and we are modifying our devices to better suit it. Eventually, SMA India will focus on localisation and expanding the team to provide the best support.” The solar inverter manufacturer offers commercial and large-scale solutions, including plant control, software, and services in PV inverters, with 3 GW of PV and energy storage systems (ESS) installed across India.
China production
Reinert explained how China is capable of producing and selling the technology at a cheaper scale, making their products cheaper compared to any international player. It’s not a level playing field for us because our competition receives subsidies, and we don’t. Furthermore, he noted that each component in the inverter needs to be slightly larger to ensure longevity, as components degrade over the years. “To last longer, they must be over-specified and over-designed,” he said.
“We want to differentiate ourselves from the cheaper competition by promising longevity and, therefore, sustainability,” he added. He emphasised that SMA has shifted its focus beyond capex to include the total cost over the product’s entire lifetime
SMA with its presence in 19 countries started selling in India in 2010 including. It sells from China to Vietnam and other countries. “We are not focusing on the Chinese market itself but rather on working with Chinese customers who sell to other parts of the world. We have exited the Chinese market,” Reinert said
With a global team of 4,000 people, SMA has a Global Competence Centre in Bengaluru that focuses on grid modelling and works closely with the R&D team in Germany. The Bengaluru centre currently employs 19 people and plans to expand to 40 by the second half of 2025.