Sungrow adds 20MW inverters in California Solar Project

December 9, 2014, Sungrow, the second largest PV inverter manufacturer in the world. Announced it completed the commissioning of its inverters for the TA Acacia solar project in Los Angeles County on the outskirts of Lancaster, California.

Construction of the 28.4-MWdc project took place from July to November 2014, generating more than 400 jobs during peak construction. Sungrow supplied 25 SG800MX inverters, which were integrated into 1.6-MW Integrated Power Stations to convert and connect the 94,340 Canadian Solar PV modules to the power grid. The SG800MX was released in the US in Q4 2013, has received lots of positive feedback, and has been deployed in many ground mount utility projects in US due to its superior performance and grid friendly functionality. Canadian Solar developed the project, and White Construction provided Engineering, Procurement, and Construction services (EPC). The 20 year Power Purchase Agreement with PG&E was approved by the California Public Utilities Commission, and the system was recently sold to Dominion Virginia Power. The total system output will be enough to power more than 6,100 homes and offset a total of 31,500 tons of carbon dioxide.

“The 28.4-MWdc TA Acacia project is a milestone for Sungrow in the U.S. and we are pleased to be part of it,” said Renxian Cao, chairman of Sungrow Power Supply. “As Sungrow keeps expanding our service infrastructure and installation base in US, we are committed to supporting Canadian Solar and other customers from coast to coast in the United States.”


“The TA Acacia Facility demonstrates that large scale solar PV can be a significant, viable, and sustainable component of California’s energy mix,” said Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Solar Inc. “As the leading manufacturer in North America, we take great pride that our modules will now be generating over 20 years of clean, emission-free renewable energy in southern California.”

New Inverter Technological Costs Are Reduced

Meeting the needs for electricity in remote parts of the world is an endeavor that is a labor of love for those intimately involved with saving animals that have no voice.   Part of that labor of love involves corporations and individuals who see to it that shipments of solar electricity systems, which include a variety of different types of power inverters, are shipped to field agents.   Ten different conservation projects in 7 different countries are making great strides thanks to electrical systems that are able to operate with the aid of off-grid, solar-powered inverters.

Inverter R&D has focused on two areas. The first is incremental changes in the existing string/central inverter,the second recent inverter development is a move toward decentralized architectures.

The new solar micro inverter is instead of having one large inverter that handles all of the conversion from DC current to AC current for the home, these new solar panels have a solar micro inverter installed in each of them that does this conversion in the panel.  This solar micro inverter takes the DC current generated by the solar panel, and converts it directly to AC current before leaving the panel.  This way you have a complete solution within the solar panel that can produce the exact power your home needs to operate.  Because higher voltage AC electricity has a lot less loss over the long wire run into your house, you get a more efficient conversion and can use a larger portion of the power you are generating with your solar panels.  This also makes expanding your solar power system each year easier as well since you can simply buy more panels and add them to your homes wiring.  There is never a need to worry about having to upgrade your inverter.  Even though these new solar panels are a little more expensive than the older ones, eliminating the cost of the larger inverter makes the total system cost about the same.

Solar inverter prices have not decreased significantly in the past few years, and with module prices falling, inverters represent a greater portion of the total cost of a solar installation. As mentioned, inverter technology can also have a significant impact on BOS and labor costs. For example, higher-capacity central inverters reduce the number of inverters that need to be installed in very large systems, thereby reducing labor costs. This is offset to some extent by the wider distribution of DC wiring and the need for bulky and expensive DC combiners and DC circuit overcurrent protection.

New inverter technologies also have the potential to reduce solar array operating costs. Microinverter technologies make the array less prone to performance degradation from dust and debris, meaning less frequent washing. Normal soiling of modules can easily reduce power output by 5 or 6%. Also, inverters based on a distributed architecture allow for delayed maintenance. In this type of highly redundant system, if one module or inverter fails, the outage is limited to that module. The rest of the array will continue to operate normally. System owners and operators can have a plan of scheduled maintenance rather than emergency maintenance. Furthermore, maintenance costs are lower because microinverters can be swapped out quickly and easily, and by less-skilled staff—compared to large central inverters, which require expert diagnosis, repair, removal, and replacement. Finally, systems that include inverter communication and per module monitoring dramatically reduce the time required to troubleshoot the PV array.

The world's lightest and commercialization 2KW PV grid-connected inverter advent

Recently, Google to one million US dollars in prize money to start a public competition to build a smaller inverter. The question now is, home inverter is too large, the inverter will help more families and more youngsters achieve solar power, build a more efficient distribution grid, and help to make power over the most remote places on Earth.

Jin Lang company in September 2014 successfully listed on the use of independent research and development will be the world's lightest solis 2KW inverter for photovoltaic inverter industry development is a milestone. Jin Lang inverter solis mini new series (weighs only 13 pounds, close 5.6KG, 270w * 417H * 124Dmm) to attract a number of countries from the United States, Canada, Mexico, Central America and Asia, hundreds of tourists visit, unanimously recognition and praise, to impress people, Kam solis wave inverters also won the World Solar Power World-renowned magazine named the "2014 global Top 100 photovoltaic products" honor.



Solis micro-inverter is not a toy! Solis mini 2G single-phase photovoltaic inverter has an inverter and other products Solis same function, high efficiency pc inverter, dual CPU design, 50V ultra low voltage start, precise MPPT algorithm , IP65 (NEMA4X) housing, but also to achieve real-time monitoring through the network and smart phone aPP application. Solis mini-series products have 700w, 1000w, 1500w, 2000w four models and more unique solutions for low-voltage AC 127V. Solis mini inverter compact, lightweight, easy to install, and has a variety of protection, for those users more "peace of mind."

Zeversolar globalization of markets, launching all kinds new inverters

Zeversolar company was  acquired by the German SMA Group, a subsidiary of SMA. Zeversolar executive vice president responsible for sales, marketing and the international service,Sven said: "We redefined Zeversolar from the company's website, technical data sheets, product manuals and product design, etc., to create a new brand positioning and image of our new. philosophy is "Energy for everybody" ".



This year, Zeversolar has successfully entered the European market, and the introduction of the newly upgraded inverter in previous year. At present, Zeversolar has launched or upcoming products: 1kW ~ 20kW string type solar grid inverters (the main push of the international market for houses, commercial power plants and other small power stations); 8kW and 10kW three-phase string type inverters; 500kW ~ 1MW concentrated solar grid inverter (main push Chinese market for large-scale solar power plants).PV inverter price is  trusted in the same industry, the latest technology, the highest configuration, the best price.



In addition to the inverter, Zeversolar also upgraded monitoring system. The PMU can be connected to the new Wi-Fi, and through the real-time network monitoring. Meanwhile,pv inverter company designs the free solar power plant, according to the parameters of the global environmental information and assembly to plan the most suitable plants.

In even more solid foundation under, Zeversolar also hopes to enter the Taiwan market. Sven considers Taiwan market steady and rapid development, has shipped about 20MW, was very good. For the future, Zeversolar 2015 show is expected to be launched first update of solar products and further develop the product string bridge inverter type and concentration between.

It’s Solar Balance-of-System Innovation That Will Drive Cost Reduction

 

Speaking to a room of 400 solar professionals, MJ Shiao, GTM Research Director, presented on the future of PV systems and technologies at this week's U.S. Solar Market Insight conference in San Diego.

"When I started in the solar industry in 2006," said Shiao, "we could buy modules for close to $4 per watt. Today, we can install a residential system [the costliest market segment] for the same price."

 

Residential system prices in the United States have fallen from $6 per watt in 2011 to $4 today. Module price reductions account for 43 percent of the drop in that same time frame.



Across all market segments, system costs have come down by between 33 percent and 50 percent. However, "it's a little aggressive to expect that trend to continue," cautions Shiao.

GTM Research forecasts system prices to continue to fall, but at a more moderate annual rate of about 20 percent to 25 percent over the next few years.


Source: GTM Research

Those reductions won't necessarily come from falling module prices, but will instead likely rely more on innovations in soft costs and solar balance-of-systems items like PV inverters and racking.

Shiao went on to describe a few technology trends shaping the inverter industry.

"We're in the age of module-level power electronics," he said. Microinverters and DC optimizers made up 55 percent of all U.S. residential systems installed in the first half of 2014. "Every major U.S. residential inverter supplier now has some form of module-level power electronics design."


Source: The Microinverter and DC Optimizer Landscape 2014: The Evolution From Market Niche to Market Success

"What is really exciting," he continued, "is that we're starting to see [module-level power electronics] creep into the commercial space with three-phase products, and module manufacturers are getting involved with AC module solutions."

This trend of decentralization is true for larger commercial systems as well. When wiring, laboring, combiner boxes and other costs are factored in for a large commercial system, a three-phase string inverter begins to look as good, if not better, than a central inverter.

Source: GTM Research

"You have to look at how your solar inverter price choices impact your total system cost," he said.

Shiao continued the second half of the presentation with trends and innovations in structural hardware.

The world's most powerful solar airport

With the popularity of solar energy and reduce costs, which acts as an increasingly important role in energy conservation, energy-hungry as the 24-hour operation - airports, except through other means to reduce energy consumption and emission reduction , the most common is to build solar power project. Then airports around the world, in the end someone high solar capacity it?

1, Shenzhen Airport in China

In November 2014, two 10MW solar power project officially started Shenzhen Airport. When this project is completed, with a total installed capacity of solar power will reach the airport 20MW, the annual power generation of about 20GWh, thus awarded as the world's largest airport aviation airports scale solar energy. Future, its solar power will account for over 10% of the airport's electricity load.


The first phase of the project's solar panels will be installed in the main installation of new cargo terminal at the airport bonded logistics park and aviation logistics park, the second phase project of the solar panels.

2, Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia


3, Colorado, Denver International Airport
 
In 2010, the total installed capacity of solar Denver International Airport reached 8MW. The airport first set in 2008 2MW solar power system, and then set 1.6MW solar power system in early 2010, the last in September 2010 to develop a new 4.4MW solar power generation facilities. Thus, the total installed capacity of solar 8MW, 6% of the airport to meet the demand for electricity.


4, Athens International Airport



2011, Athens International Airport invested 20 million euros of 8MW solar projects put into use. Its solar power project covers 160,000 square meters, generating 11 million degrees per year to meet 20 percent of the airport's electricity demand will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 10,000 tons. Also worth mentioning is that its solar power system is comprised of Suntech completed within six months of construction.


5, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport in United States

February 2012, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport in three positions installed on the roof of a total of 5.4MW of solar panels to meet the airport's car rental center, two parking and toll plazas 51% of electricity demand, will save $ 4.7 million over the next 20 years. It is estimated that this solar project will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 5500 tons per year. Its solar panels installed by SunPower.


6,Shanghai Hongqiao Airport in China


In 2010, the Shanghai Hongqiao Airport Terminal 2 West freight station roofing installed capacity for solar modules 2.848MW, the annual average grid electricity is about 2.77GWh, annual savings for the grid of about 987 tons of standard coal.

7, Tokyo Haneda International Airport


2010 Tokyo Haneda International Airport began to solar power. Its power scale 2MW, annual power generation capacity 2GWh, can reduce the amount of 850 tons of carbon dioxide annually. Its approximately 28,000 square meters of solar panels set up in the Airport International Cargo Terminal top, about 10% of electricity consumption in the building supply.

8, California Fresno airport

In 2011, the Fresno airport solar plan into effect. Its on 9.5 acres (approximately 38,445 square meters) of land to install a total of 11,700 solar panels, with a total capacity of 2MW. 40 percent of its electricity for the airport daily electricity consumption.

9, Shanghai Pudong International Airport in China


November 2014, the Pudong airport completed 1.7MW solar power systems. The project is building integrated solar energy project, covering 15,000 square meters, is located between the airport's Terminal 1 and 2, will be used to meet the needs of airport parking and handling equipment, but also for airport outdoor air conditioning equipment shade.

10, Hawaii airport



In October 2008, announced the construction of the airport in Hawaii 779KW solar power system, by Hoku Solar company responsible for the design, construction and installation.

Huawei enjoys greatest 12-month gain in global inverter marke

Data released today by IHS reveals that China's Huawei has enjoyed the largest 12-month gains in the global PV inverter market.

While the telecommunications giant has made impressive strides in the sector, traditional pure-play inverter suppliers such as SMA and ABB have seen their stranglehold of the market loosened.

Germany's SMA remains the leading inverter supplier in terms of market share, but the first three quarters of 2014 have seen the inverter giant relinquish some 6% of its lead to rivals. ABB, in second place, has lost slightly more than 1% of the market.

According to IHS senior analyst for PV inverter research Cormac Gilligan, this latest shuffle is an indication that the balance of power in the inverter market is beginning to tilt away from Europe.


"Global PV inverter supplier rankings have changed substantially over the past 12 months, led by large gains from Japanese, Chinese and module-level power electronic suppliers," Gilligan said.

SMA’s limited exposure to the soaring Japanese and Chinese markets – coupled with declining orders in Europe – have undermined the company’s bottom line at the same time that Huawei has enjoyed dramatic growth in its domestic Chinese market.

The telecoms specialist is now one of the leading inverter names in China, and now shares the 4.8 GW of inverter shipments recorded in the country in Q3 2014 with other leading inverter manufacturers in china, such as Sungrow and TBEA Sunoasis.

"Suppliers with a major presence in the U.S., Japan, China and other high-growth markets were some of the biggest year-over-year gainers, while those that were heavily reliant on Germany, Italy and other countries that previously led the market lost considerable market share," added Gilligan.

Japan’s high-price domestic market puts it in first place in terms of global inverter revenue, which has had the knock-on effect of propelling its domestic inverter suppliers – such as Omrom, Tabuchi and TMEIC – up the global market share charts, with revenues largely drawn from Japan only.

The increase in market share of microinverter company Enphase and power optimizer specialists SolarEdge suggests that module level power electronics (MLPE) are an increasingly preferred option for installers and consumers, particularly in the U.S. and Europe where there appears to be robust demand for this type of technology.

Europe’s most dynamic PV market, the U.K., has helped improve the market share of Schneider Electric – where the European inverter supplier is active – while its presence in France, India and Japan has also helped the company gain considerable market share over the past year. Indeed, Schneider Electric was the only European company to enjoy a positive 2014, growing its global revenue share by almost 2% in the first three quarters of the year – the third-best performance after Huawei and Tabuchi.

TMEIC, TBEA Sunoasis and Enphase Energy all gained between 1-2% in the first three quarters of the year, with Omron and SolarEdge boosting their market share by less than 1%.