Inverters

High solar irradiance and few cloudy days are ideal for solar. Fine dust and extreme heat is not – particularly when it comes to power electronics. As the distributed generation market segment emerges in the MENA region, it’s a challenge that inverter suppliers are grappling with.

pv magazine is pleased to announce the winners of our inaugural Annual Award. Winners will be recognized in a ceremony alongside the Middle East Solar Industry Associations’ Solar Awards, during the World Future Energy Summit.

SMA Solar technology AG has announced that around 425 full time jobs or 12.8% of its global workforce will be lost as part of its restructuring efforts. The PV inverter manufacturer will also discontinue operations in China, preferring to refocus its efforts on Germany.

High levels of rooftop PV penetration, an informed public, small seasonal irradiance variation, and market structures that favour maximising solar self consumption: Australia is ideally situated to see the adoption of the smart home. So says SolarEdge founder Lior Handelsman who spells out how the company is expanding its Aussie operations and offering a growing range of solutions to put rooftop PV to its best use.

German inverter giant SMA has reported huge market share in the Australian marketplace, announcing 1.8 GW of PV power plant installations in 2018. The company’s dominance of the large scale segment is such that it claims “almost all utility scale PV power plant projects in Australia rely on the SMA Medium Voltage Power Station.”

German inverter supplier SMA has continued to build on its very strong position in the Australian large scale solar market segment, being selected to supply what will be the largest PV power plant in the country. The Limondale Solar Farm in NSW will 57 SMA MPVS systems and two SMA Power Plant Controllers.

While the SRES appears safe, the rooftop PV market is likely to thrive even as the certificates phase out. So says Hans-Georg Einwagner – Area Sales Manager Asia-Pacific Region, for Austrian inverter maker Fronius. With something approaching 40% market share in the DG rooftop segment in certain segments, Einwagner says Fronius’ quality and service model is behind the company’s strong showing.

Enphase’s 3rd quarter results saw revenues at $78 million with an estimated $10 million sales shortfall due to a component shortage, as the company shipped 204 MW of inverters. Future speculation saw an international play on the IQ8, the SunPower partnership, and energy storage driving growth.

German inverter supplier SMA has picked up two landmark projects in the APAC region. The 50 MW Minbu Solar Park in Myanmar, the largest solar array in the country, will deploy SMA’s Sunny Central platform, while string inverters from SMA’s Chinese subsidiary Zeversolar have been installed at a 20 MW floating project in Jiangsu.

The inverter maker took number one spot in the United States from SMA this year, and acquired majority stakes and IP in uninterrupted power supply company Gamesa and storage system provider Kokam. While other companies have consolidated, SolarEdge managed to report robust results.