Innovative and durable designs that reduce part counts and speed installation time of PV systems are key differentiators for growing market share

Miami, Florida, December 5, 2013 –The North American PV Mounting Systems market is poised to grow 67% between 2013 and 2018 to account for more than $1.5 billion (U.S.), according to the Wolf Research North American PV Mounting Systems Report. This market value growth will be strongest in the roof-top segment. The compound annual growth rate 2013-2018 for the flat roof-mount market value (primarily commercial buildings) will be 17.5%. For the pitched roof-mount market value, the CAGR is expected to be an almost equally impressive 16.1%. Ground-mount, the dominant segment in 2013, will experience slower growth during the next five years as utility-scale solar energy projects slow down, but is expected to still account for 37% of the revenue opportunity in 2018.

The top three market share leaders for North American PV Mounting Systems during the first half of 2013 were Schletter, Unirac and IronRidge in terms of MW equivalent mounting systems installed. Schletter was also the clear leader in ground-mount systems; Zep Solar was the leader in pitched-roof installations. The leader in flat-roof installations was IronRidge.

Significant market share shift for established as well as emerging competitors underscored the need for continued innovation and controlling manufacturing costs. The healthy PV market in North America is attracting new competitors from overseas and domestic start-ups alike, resulting in increasing price competition and investment in new production, as well as accelerating product innovation and differentiation.

"The need to speed up installations and reduce total PV system cost is critical for market growth," said Wolfgang Schlichting, Executive Research Director at Wolf Research and lead author of the North American PV Mounting Systems Report. "Mounting systems vendors address this need with simpler, more integrated designs of their still durable solutions."

The lead author of this comprehensive, 100-page North American PV Mounting Systems Report is Wolfgang Schlichting, an experienced downstream PV market analyst and Executive Research Director at Wolf Research. Contributing authors for this study include these industry veterans:

Barrett Silver, VP of Sales & Marketing for Sun Ray Install, LLC, an East Coast based solar ground mount installation company. Barrett was most recently the Director of Business Development, Northeast, at Unirac and Director of East Coast Accounts at SunLink.

Bryan Conklin, President & Marketing Consultant at Resurgent Solutions. Previously Bryan was Senior Director of Marketing at Mainstream Energy/REC Solar and Director of Marketing - North America at BP Solar.

This report sizes, analyzes and forecasts the PV Mounting system market in the United States and Canada in terms of market value, MW equivalent installed and $/W. The report also includes market share for 2012 and the first half of 2013 by segment and roof type. Markets are divided into commercial and residential installations in the report, and detailed data for both markets include ground-mount as well as flat and pitched-roof mount PV projects. The report spans the period 2012-2018 with actual data for 2012 and the first half of 2013. Key market and technology trends as well as market share shifts are discussed in detail. In addition, more than thirty leading mounting systems vendors are profiled in the report; most are analyzed in terms of size, background, product and market focus, positioning, differentiation, challenges and opportunities.

This Wolf Research report identifies business challenges and market opportunities for companies that are currently active in, seeking to enter, or required to understand the North American PV mounting systems market. The report is based on actual installation and pricing data and features comprehensive analysis of PV mounting systems as well as the solar PV racking market and its competitive dynamics.

For more information about the Wolf Research North American PV Mounting Systems Report, contact info@wolfresearch.net or visit www.wolfresearch.com.