Featured in Time for microgrids to go macro? – 11-2019

How large of a problem is thermal derating?

In its Inverter Scorecard, PV Evolution Labs examines thermal derating, a long-known problem among experts. With the data the lab collects, it provides insights as to how different devices behave when exposed to high temperatures.

By

Michael Fuhs

12 Nov 2019

Image: Adobe/JYF

In a pv magazine webinar a few years ago, SMA argued that its inverters displayed much better thermal behavior than those of other, possibly cheaper, competitors. The competing companies defended themselves against the attack, of course. Because the information in most specification sheets does not provide much insight into thermal behavior, it was one company’s word …

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