Solar Micro inverter
Because we have been the market leader in solar inverters for over 20 years, operate with subsidiaries in 23 countries around the world, and produce market leading products for the residential, commercial, and utility-scale markets, we are justifiably wary of new entrants in the market making bold claims about performance or reliability.
It's certainly an incredible time to be working in the solar industry. It can be dizzying to follow the pace of technology development at the major global technical conferences. SMA has been committed to advancing the science of solar for many years, and last year a record number of SMA papers were accepted for presentation at the EUPVSEC in Hamburg. It is on this legacy of scientific advancement that we build our marketing messaging.
So when you hear about the suitability of a particular inverter technology for a particular project, it comes from the perspective of this hard-earned experience. To the best of my knowledge, no peer reviewed paper has demonstrated a performance advantage for micro inverters in commercial applications -- let alone an LCOE advantage (taking into account the considerable difference in price points for string or central inverters compared to micro inverters). Perhaps you can show me otherwise?
I have seen recent work presented by NREL which demonstrates the performance advantage of the micro-inverter architecture for shaded conditions. This analysis appears to be well done and we appreciate the rigorous approach. Again, though, I wonder if the performance advantage (3.7% in the case of light shading) can overcome the price premium for the microinverter system.
So we tend to think that other factors are at work in the inverter market. The perceived ease of use of micro inverters shouldn't be discounted, for example. In the fast-growing North American market there are many new entrants so this factor is important. We are excited to be launching our SB 240 micro inverter system this year and look forward to serving the needs of these new entrants to the market and those companies who have built their businesses around the characteristics of microinverter technology. We have a few tricks up our sleeves and are optimistic about our chances to compete in this segment. After all, our track record is pretty good.
However our firm opinion is that over time even these new entrants might seek ways to improve returns and move towards more established technologies with proven gains in LCOE or ROI.
BTW, this might also explain your comment about "integrators turning to micro inverters for large-scale projects." I wonder if you can point to (for example) any of the Top 15 commercial systems integrators who are using microinverter technology for large-scale projects? If one supposes that these large, sophisticated integrators might be using global best practices, then it might be important to note that these companies rely on central inverters or decentralized string inverter architectures to deliver leading returns to PV investors.
Are new entrants in the market experimenting with micro-inverters for commercial development? I don't doubt it. But that doesn't imply it's an optimal approach to deliver the best returns to end-users or PV project investors.
It's certainly an incredible time to be working in the solar industry. It can be dizzying to follow the pace of technology development at the major global technical conferences. SMA has been committed to advancing the science of solar for many years, and last year a record number of SMA papers were accepted for presentation at the EUPVSEC in Hamburg. It is on this legacy of scientific advancement that we build our marketing messaging.
So when you hear about the suitability of a particular inverter technology for a particular project, it comes from the perspective of this hard-earned experience. To the best of my knowledge, no peer reviewed paper has demonstrated a performance advantage for micro inverters in commercial applications -- let alone an LCOE advantage (taking into account the considerable difference in price points for string or central inverters compared to micro inverters). Perhaps you can show me otherwise?
I have seen recent work presented by NREL which demonstrates the performance advantage of the micro-inverter architecture for shaded conditions. This analysis appears to be well done and we appreciate the rigorous approach. Again, though, I wonder if the performance advantage (3.7% in the case of light shading) can overcome the price premium for the microinverter system.
So we tend to think that other factors are at work in the inverter market. The perceived ease of use of micro inverters shouldn't be discounted, for example. In the fast-growing North American market there are many new entrants so this factor is important. We are excited to be launching our SB 240 micro inverter system this year and look forward to serving the needs of these new entrants to the market and those companies who have built their businesses around the characteristics of microinverter technology. We have a few tricks up our sleeves and are optimistic about our chances to compete in this segment. After all, our track record is pretty good.
However our firm opinion is that over time even these new entrants might seek ways to improve returns and move towards more established technologies with proven gains in LCOE or ROI.
BTW, this might also explain your comment about "integrators turning to micro inverters for large-scale projects." I wonder if you can point to (for example) any of the Top 15 commercial systems integrators who are using microinverter technology for large-scale projects? If one supposes that these large, sophisticated integrators might be using global best practices, then it might be important to note that these companies rely on central inverters or decentralized string inverter architectures to deliver leading returns to PV investors.
Are new entrants in the market experimenting with micro-inverters for commercial development? I don't doubt it. But that doesn't imply it's an optimal approach to deliver the best returns to end-users or PV project investors.
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