Two years ago, you needed an inverter (inverter or Wechselrichter, it's the same thing) to transform the direct current produced by the photovoltaic panels into alternating current that can be used by the building or the network and to possibly charge an electrical storage , then another inverter to offload the storage.Now, a single inverter is enough to perform all three functions.Integration of inverters and storage solutionsSMA, the main German manufacturer of inverters – with a turnover of 999.6 million Euros in 2015 – has developed the new Sunny Boy Storage offer for domestic customers.It is a solution connected to the alternating current of the dwelling with a good dose of on-board intelligence which allows it to integrate into an existing photovoltaic installation and to manage all kinds of storage.This system embeds the Sunny Island storage inverter, the Sunny Home Manager controller which manages the storage + PV installation with the aim of maximizing self-consumption and the SMA Energy Meter capable of providing information on the PV production of the house at any time, as well as on the electricity consumed, on the call to the network and on the self-consumption rate.This SMA offer can be coupled with the new storage capacity of 2.5 to 20 kWh (8000 charge/discharge cycles) developed by Mercedes-Benz.For its part, the German Delta offered its new E5 hybrid storage system which contains Li-ion batteries with a total capacity of 6 kWh and a charge/discharge inverter.Its charging efficiency, from direct current PV to batteries, reaches 95%.In general, more and more manufacturers are offering integrated storage + inverter solutions.Or storage and UPS manufacturers clearly indicate which brands and systems their solutions are compatible with.ABB, for example, was highlighting its “all-in-one” REACT-3.6 or 4.6 wall-mounted system which combines storage based on Li-ion batteries of 2, 4 or 6 kWh capacity and inverters of 3.6 or 4 .6 kW of power.Fronius also emphasized the storage + inverter pair with its new three-phase Symo Hybrid inverter offer (3, 4 or 5 kW), combined with storage from 4.5 to 12 kWh (in steps of 2, 5 kWh).Managing Tesla's 400VThere were a few “Tesla Ready” stickers in the aisles of Intersolar.Among the electricity storage offers, Tesla indeed occupies a special place.On the one hand, its marketing is much more effective than that of the others: we only talk about it.On the other hand, its PowerWall storage with a capacity of 6.4 kWh for a power of 3.3 kW, offers an output voltage of 350 to 400 V for a current of 9.5 Amps.This is a very high value – most storage offers an output voltage between 40 and 60 V – which requires specially designed inverters to charge and discharge the PowerWall.SolarEdge presented at Intersolar, an evolution of its PowerWall compatible StorEdge inverter.StorEdge inverters are also capable of handling LG Chem's new RESU 7H and 10H batteries which have an output voltage of 400 V.SMA pointed out that its Sunny Boy Storage solution makes it easy to incorporate the PowerWall into an existing PV installation.Much more compact invertersSolarEdge won the 2016 Intersolar Innovation Award for its new home inverters featuring its HD-Wave technology.SolarEdge has incorporated more power electronics into its inverters to achieve a clean sine wave output.This allows it to halve the heat dissipation, therefore to divide by 2.5 the components intended for cooling (radiator fans, etc.) and especially to divide by 16 the magnetic components on board its inverters.The new HD-Wave inverters are available up to powers of 6.5 kW, reach an efficiency of 99%, while offering a footprint divided by three and a weight of only 9.5 kg.The Dutch Victron was one of the few to highlight inverters dedicated to charging storage.Its two models MPPT 150/85 and MPPT 150/100 manage photovoltaic installations producing current with a voltage of 12, 24 or 48 V, with maximum powers of 1200 W at 12 V up to 5800 W at 48 V.Their charging efficiency reaches 98%.This value of efficiency of 98% in storage loading has become the market standard.It was clear at Intersolar 2016 that a new market is developing, that of PV installations outputting a voltage of 1500 Volts.The higher the voltage (Volts), the lower the current (Amps).This minimizes transmission losses and reduces the size of the connection cables.With a higher voltage, an installation can be designed to maximize the number of panels per string (connected in series on the same circuit).Large-scale photovoltaic farmsThis makes balancing easier, minimizes the number of devices to achieve it and reduces installation costs.These are naturally large photovoltaic farms, often directly connected to medium voltage networks from 1 to 20 kV.As a result, all the specialists in high power, high voltages in electrical equipment - ABB, Siemens, Schneider Electric with its Conext SmartGen of 1500V and connected to the Cloud for monitoring - offer packaged solutions of high power inverters for these very high voltages.They are joined by the major brands of inverters which are moving upmarket.SMA, for example, is known for its domestic and commercial inverters.A 10ft shipping containerHowever, it presented at Intersolar 2016 its first 1500V inverter, the Sunny Central 2500-EV.SMA proposed a fully equipped 10-foot maritime container containing 2 Sunny Central 2500-EVs, for a total power of 5000 kVA for photovoltaic farms designed in 1500V.At the same time, half a dozen PV module manufacturers have announced panels suitable for this voltage, including Suntech with its 72-cell SuperPoly (polysilicon) range and First Solar.Our next article will focus on the many joys and the rare constraints of self-consumption.Source: batirama.com / Pascal PoggiEnter your Nickname (your comment will be published under this name)Enter your email (an alert will be sent to this address to notify you of the publication of your comment)Your comment will be published as soon as possible after validation by our moderators.© 2011 Batirama.com |produced by BIP Professional Information |Legal notices |ARTIDEVIS |ARTIPRIX |Notifications Update ARTIDEVIS V9