Inverters

India’s Statcon Energiaa has developed an outdoor inverter solution for microgrids that can integrate multiple energy sources including renewables (biomass, wind, hydro and solar), battery storage, and diesel generator and deliver continuous, voltage-stabilized power to the loads. It supports both AC and DC coupling.   

The Chinese inverter major has showcased its 255K-Plus three-phase inverter for utility-scale solar applications in India. The new inverter is compatible with 500+ W bifacial modules.

US manufacturer Yotta Energy said that its two new microinverters are compatible with up to four high-power PV modules. They have a peak efficiency of 96.5% and a nominal maximum power point tracking (MPPT) efficiency of 99.5%.

Solinteg’s new hybrid inverters come in seven versions with nominal power ranging from 3 kW to 9 kW, an efficiency rating of 97.6%, and a European efficiency of 97.0%. They measure 534 mm × 418 mm × 210 mm and weigh 27 kg.

A new report form analysts at IHS Markit notes that the market for module-level power electronics (MLPE) grew by 33% between 2019 and 2021, with around one-third of new residential solar installations now taking advantage of MLPE’s promise of improved safety, energy yield and fault detection. And with smaller, distributed generation systems expected to represent 43% of global PV installations between now and 2025, the opportunity for MLPE will only get larger.

Scientists from France’s CEA-Ines developed a 400 W micro-inverter with a power density of 1.1 kW/L and an efficiency of 97%. The device utilizes GaN 600V diodes and power transistors developed by CEA’s electronic branch CEA-Leti.

USA-headquartered Enphase manufactures microinverters in India from Finnish company Salcomp’s plant in Chennai.  

A new study by Bern University of Applied Sciences shows that the performance of most PV inverters and power optimizers remains optimal for up to 15 years. The inverters considered came mainly from the manufacturers Fronius, Sputnik, and SMA and most of the power optimizers examined came from Solaredge.

China’s Huawei has been named the world’s biggest inverter supplier for the seventh year in a row, followed by Sungrow and Growatt, according to Wood Mackenzie.

The US multinational will expand the solar and battery energy storage manufacturing capacity at its factory in Tamil Nadu to 9 GW per annum by the end of 2022. The factory manufactures FlexInverter power conversion solution and FlexReservoir utility-scale energy storage solution.