Comparison of R&D directions and technology trends of domestic inverter manufacturers such as Sungrow, Huawei, and Jinlong Technology

The following is a detailed analysis and comparative summary of the R&D direction in the 2023 annual reports of six photovoltaic inverter manufacturers, including Sungrow Power Supply, Huawei Digital Energy, Jinlong Technology, GoodWe, Homai Co., Ltd. and Sineng Electric: 1. Comparative analysis of R&D investment Overall, the six manufacturers have increased their R&D investment in 2023, reflecting their high attention to technological innovation. Sungrow Power Supply
R&D expenses: about 2.447 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 45%, accounting for about 3.4% of revenue;
R&D team: 5,372 people, accounting for about 40% of the total number of employees. Huawei Digital Energy (Huawei overall data)
Huawei’s overall R&D expenditure is 164.7 billion yuan, accounting for 23.4% of total revenue;
R&D team is about 114,000 people, accounting for about 55% of the total number of employees.
(Huawei has not separately announced the specific investment in the digital energy sector, but it can be inferred that the investment is huge.) Jinlong Technology
Sungrow Power Supply
R&D expenses: about 2.447 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 45%, accounting for about 3.4% of revenue;
R&D team: 5,372 people, accounting for about 40% of the total number of employees. Huawei Digital Energy (Huawei overall data)
Huawei’s overall R&D expenditure is 164.7 billion yuan, accounting for 23.4% of total revenue;
R&D team is about 114,000 people, accounting for about 55% of the total number of employees.
(Huawei has not separately announced the specific investment in the digital energy sector, but it can be inferred that the investment is huge.)
Ginlong Technology R&D expenses: about 312 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.7%, accounting for about 5.2% of revenue;
R&D team: 762 people, accounting for 20% of the total number of employees, a year-on-year increase of 45%.
GoodWe R&D expenses: about 470 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 35%, accounting for about 6.4% of revenue;
R&D team: 1,023 people, a year-on-year increase of 18.7%, accounting for 28.16% of the total number of employees.
Homai’s R&D expenses: about 248 million yuan, up 154% year-on-year, accounting for 12.2% of revenue;
R&D team: 377 people, up 77% year-on-year.
Shangneng Electric’s R&D expenses: about 268 million yuan, up 86% year-on-year, accounting for about 5.44% of revenue;
R&D team: 411 people, up 52.8% year-on-year.

In terms of R&D investment intensity, Homai shares accounted for the highest proportion, reflecting its pursuit of technology in the segmented market; Sungrow and Huawei relied on scale effects and were far ahead in absolute investment; Ginlong, GoodWe and Sineng Electric steadily increased R&D, reflecting technology orientation. 2. Analysis of key technological breakthroughs and highlights Each manufacturer mainly made R&D breakthroughs around the third-generation semiconductors, topological structure innovation and intelligent applications:

1. Application of third-generation semiconductor materials (SiC/GaN) Huawei: Large-scale application of SiC/GaN to improve power density, and proposed a goal of increasing power density by 50% within five years. Ginlong Technology and Sineng Electric: SiC power devices have been deployed to achieve efficiency breakthroughs (Ginlong’s highest is 99.1%). Sungrow, GoodWe and Homai have also increased their efforts to introduce SiC devices.

2. New topological structure innovation Sungrow: The world’s first DC 2000V high-voltage inverter was put into operation, breaking through the voltage level bottleneck. Sineng Electric: Multi-level soft switching topology technology is promoted to further improve efficiency and compatibility. Huawei, Ginlong and GoodWe continue to iterate existing topological designs to improve conversion efficiency and reliability.

3. Intelligent and system integration technology Sungrow Power Supply: The world’s first 10MWh fully liquid-cooled energy storage system and new “stem cell grid” technology. Huawei: Intelligent photovoltaic inverter and AI fusion technology, actively promoting grid-friendly inverter technology. Homai: Focusing on micro-inverter technology upgrades, launching a new type of built-in WiFi communication inverter. Jinlong, GoodWe: Iterating the sixth-generation technology platform for household and industrial and commercial use, strengthening intelligent monitoring and energy management capabilities.

Analysis of future product development direction In terms of future product layout, all companies are targeting the fields of “photovoltaic and storage integration” and “multi-energy integration”:

1. Energy storage system technology and product layout
   Sungrow Power Supply: PowerTitan 2.0 large-scale energy storage system was released first, with 10MWh liquid-cooled energy storage capacity.
   Shanghai Energy: Energy storage PCS grows rapidly, accounting for nearly 40% of revenue.
   GoodWe and Jinlong Technology: Continuously launch household and industrial and commercial energy storage inverters to improve the “solar storage integration” solution.
   Homai Shares: Energy storage business revenue increased by 354% year-on-year, focusing on the energy storage market.
2. Development trend of integrated photovoltaic storage and charging
   Sungrow Power Supply and Huawei: Actively deploy “photovoltaic storage and charging” and new energy integration solutions to achieve multi-energy synergy.
   GoodWe and Jinlong Technology: Create a “photovoltaic storage and charging” product ecosystem, including one-stop solutions such as energy storage walls and electric vehicle charging piles.

3. Development plan of string and centralized inverters
   Huawei, Jinlong, GoodWe, and Homax: focus on string/micro inverter technology, focusing on distributed photovoltaic scenarios;
   Sungrow Power Supply and Sineng Electric: adopt a “string + centralized” parallel layout strategy to adapt to projects of different sizes;
   String inverters are gradually becoming the mainstream solution due to the obvious trend of power improvement and cost optimization; centralized inverters are mainly aimed at super-large ground photovoltaic power stations.

IV. Comprehensive comparison summary and trend analysis
Commonalities and differences in R&D directions:
Commonality:
All companies have strengthened their R&D investment in SiC/GaN semiconductor applications, intelligent control technology and integrated energy storage solutions, focusing on improving efficiency, reliability and grid friendliness.
Differences: Manufacturers vary due to different scales and market positioning:
Sungrow Power Supply and Huawei Digital Energy have strong financial resources, strong technological leadership, and R&D capabilities covering the entire industry chain;
Ginlong and GoodWe focus on refined technology iteration in the distributed field, especially in the international market for many years; Homai shares have precise positioning, with micro inverters as the core, the highest R&D investment intensity, and significant competitive barriers;
Shanghai Energy Electric has obvious advantages in the compatible layout of centralized and string technologies, and focuses on serving large power station customers.

Overall trend analysis:
In the future, the inverter industry will show a clear trend of “high power density, high conversion efficiency, and intelligent integration”. The application scale of the third-generation semiconductor (SiC/GaN) technology will expand rapidly, and the energy storage business will gradually change from auxiliary to strategic leadership. Companies will continue to expand the integrated product line of “light storage and charging” multi-energy systems to form comprehensive energy service capabilities.
The R&D strategies of various manufacturers will gradually shift from single hardware equipment manufacturing to software and hardware collaboration, system integration and solution capability competition. Technological innovation and the ability to provide overall solutions will become the new core advantages of manufacturers’ competition. Companies with strong R&D investment and rapid technology iteration capabilities will occupy a dominant position in the market.

Please leave your comments or contact us to learn more！