Small commercial photovoltaic project is about to return

The GTM Research study, a Boston-based market research institute, shows that small commercial PV projects will be revived due to market stimulus and technological innovation.

Although the capital market has increased its investment in large-scale commercial solar energy projects over the past five years, it still faces considerable difficulties in attracting investment for small-scale commercial power projects. These small-scale commercial solar energy projects are usually adapted to a variety of contract terms, and the power purchaser itself lacks an industry credit rating or rating does not have gold content, and then there are many special requirements for the project construction site. In addition, the transaction costs associated with small commercial solar projects are essentially flat compared with those of much larger projects.

The above-mentioned shortcomings have led investors to lose confidence in small-scale commercial solar energy projects and instead invest in solar power projects with larger power generation, especially those projects that generate more than one megawatt of electricity.

This trend of investment shows an increasing trend over time. In 2010, 70% of the total installed capacity of non-residential solar power plants was less than 1 MW. By 2014, this proportion had dropped to 44%.

It is of great significance to create market development conditions for small commercial solar energy projects. In theory, to a large extent, the development potential of this market is actually very large using today's standards. It is gratifying that we have foreseen some trends in the market that are helping to develop small-scale commercial solar projects.

First, the United States has realized the importance of developing small-scale commercial solar energy projects and it is necessary to treat them differently. Currently, it is launching stimulus projects to expand its market.

Second, we have seen many different companies constantly introducing innovative technologies to reduce the management costs of investing in small-scale commercial solar projects, such as the project points system, online attendance systems, and investment platforms.

Finally, in order to attract third-party capital, some companies have begun to establish their own small-scale commercial solar energy projects while developing large-scale commercial projects. The development trend of small projects in the coming years will eventually be reversed. We are optimistic about this.

We expect that the non-civilian PV industry in the United States will exceed 1.3 GW this year, an increase of 21% compared to 2013.