Inverters

pv magazine is compiling a guide to home solar installations, aimed at those who are interested in installing but are new to the market and want to make an informed decision. We have spoken to associations, installers and industry specialists in major solar markets across the globe to compile best practice guidance and advice that aims to be applicable to home solar installations anywhere in the world. The first part of the series aims to help homeowners looking to embrace PV identify the best installers on the market.

India’s renewable energy ministry has issued draft rules requiring all solar inverters installed under its 30 GW rooftop program to link directly to national servers, aiming to improve grid stability and cybersecurity. Industry groups back the plan but warn of high compliance costs, supply chain constraints, and uneven connectivity.

New research from Switzerland showed that the recent efforts to counterbalance the dominance of China in the PV industry may lead to “cost-significant” inefficiencies across the entire supply chain. The scientists found, however, that achieving regional supply chain goals can benefit the global PV ecosystem.

The Indian battery manufacturer has launched wall-mountable, high-efficiency inverters with inbuilt lithium battery for residential and commercial solar applications.

Multiple factors affect the productive lifespan of a residential solar system. In Part 2 of our series, we look at solar inverters.

The quality assurance firm updated its inverter manufacturer financial stability ranking with APSystems (Yuneng Technology), Sinexcel, and Eaton in the top three spots.

Researchers in Turkey tested a novel heat sink design to cool insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) arrays in solar inverters. They found that it reduced module temperatures by more than 6 C in lab experiments.

Researchers have designed a new switched-capacitor-based multilevel inverter topology with nine switches. They have tested it in simulations and in hardware-in-the-loop tests. Efficiency reached up to 96.5%.

Limiting inverter output, called derating, enables installers to maintain system power rating when adding a new inverter to an existing solar installation, or to help homeowners qualify for incentives with precise power targets.

Researchers in China have investigated how market segment spillover effects materialized in the Chinese PV supply chain from 2017 to 2024, and have identified a series of hedging strategies that could help manufacturers reduce risks. Their analysis showed these effects are triggered based on an ‘’upstream-driven, downstream-responsive’’ contagion pattern.