Among the innovations on display by Bluetti was the new solar-powered generator, the EP600+B500

Solar inverters remain a rapidly changing market, as powerful smart features continue to show their worth. Smart features and monitoring, along with battery storage compatibility, support for EV charging, heat pumps, and more, have all become increasingly necessary. And manufacturers that don’t respond quickly find themselves behind as new manufacturers elevate the market to cover growing needs, as homes, businesses, and vehicles electrify. New products bring fresh competition delivering complete overall solutions.

Following its exit from the solar business, LG Electronics is setting its sights on the Energy Storage Systems (ESS) sector. In addition to new products, it is also eyeing European market expansion. Sven Armbrecht, LG Electronics sales manager for Europe, and product manager Kyuwon Heo explain why solar installers can count on the group for heat pumps and integrated battery storage systems.

Taiwan-based solar PV monitoring service provider, thingnario, which uses AI to interpret large data sets, has reported that large solar parks can save as much as US$4,000 per megawatt in avoidable losses each year. The data comes from over 3,200 PV sites in Taiwan, studied over four years. The company believes higher-quality O&M monitoring can recover much of these costs through its proven strategies.

SolarApex has built what it calls the world’s largest rooftop PV array. A 140 MW project on a steelmill will help Turkish steelmaker Tosyali to shift its production to carbon-free “green steel.” Chief Marketing Officer Besime Özderici says the project could be an example for other energy-intensive industries.

Huawei Digital Power Technologies, a unit of Chinese multinational tech giant Huawei, recently signed a deal with Ghana-based solar developer Meinergy Technology to build a 1 GW solar plant coupled with 500 MWh of storage in Ghana over the next years. Under the terms of the deal, Huawei will supply solar-plus-storage systems for the project. Meinergy will be responsible for the development and construction of the facility. pv magazine recently spoke about the project with Kevin Wu, CEO of Meinergy, and Peter Acheampong, Deputy Director of Renewables for the Bui Power Authority, which owns the installation.

Engineering, procurement and construction companies must take special steps to ensure that PV plants operate reliably and efficiently. Japan’s ORIX Renewable Energy Management (OREM) is one such company. pv magazine recently caught up with Executive Vice President Kazuhisa Yurita to discuss the current challenges of O&M.

In Thailand, the 7-Eleven convenience store chain uses PV systems at its shops to lower its electricity consumption. Cristobal Chin, the CEO of Chow Energy, shared his thoughts on these projects.

Argentinian state-owned power company Jemse built the country’s largest PV facility between 2017 and 2020 under the RenovAr program for large-scale renewables. Thus far, the 300 MW project has produced more than one million MWh of clean electricity and is now on the verge of being expanded to 500 MW, with the addition of 30 MW/100 MWh of storage. pv magazine recently spoke with Willy Hoerth, the president of Jemse’s Cauchari Solari unit, and its project director, Guillermo Giralt. The 300 MW asset was financed with funds from Export-Import Bank of China, and a $210 million bond issued by the Argentinian province of Jujuy. Jemse has full ownership of the project. Huawei was the supplier of the string inverters in the first phase and likely for the second phase.

Alter Enersun has started its relationship with PV inverter manufacturer Huawei. The Spanish developer’s CEO Jose Morlanes says that the company follows a route of choosing Tier 1 suppliers for all its components, including inverters, to keep downtime of his projects at the bare minimum. With Huawei he found an inverter supplier to fulfill his high demands.