SMA

A project on Isabela Island in Ecuador’s Galapagos archipelago has given its 3,500 inhabitants energy generated by local resources, including plant oil produced on the continent. Preferable to a logistically challenging and hyper expensive extension of the mainland grid, if the $13 million island system were installed today, it would be cheaper than when it was contracted four years ago.

Lead plays an important role in crystalline silicon module manufacturing when it comes to cell interconnection. But even in small amounts, the presence of this toxic material in a PV module could be viewed as a black mark against the industry’s sustainable credentials. Alternatives are available, but it seems the price is not yet right for broader uptake.

In the run up to our Greenwashing vs. verifiable sustainability webinar, the CEO of pv magazine’s UP initiative partner SMA Solar Technology, Jürgen Reinert, talks about what the inverter manufacturer is doing to prove its sustainability credentials.

In pursuit of a lower levelized cost of energy for the next generation of inverters, some manufacturers have turned to acquiring considerably more expensive semiconductors. While this may sound like a misstep at first, the trick could be pulled off — though not easily, and not always — yet.

The capacity is made up of two 50 MW projects, one of which made the deadline to connect before Sunday and benefit from Vietnam’s generous feed-in tariff. Though the fixed payment has now expired, the market could continue to develop thanks to high energy demand and excellent irradiation.

The east Asian nation has stepped into the solar world with the 50 MW Minbu facility – planned to eventually reach 170 MW – reportedly beating other previously announced projects to grid connection.

The inverter maker conducted tests and found the branded SMA TS4-R-F-42 could not always supply the rapid shutdown function called for by a new U.S. safety standard when applied in commercial and industrial systems featuring its inverter tech.

With a capacity of 2,2 MW, the rooftop array is at the industrial plant of Belgian company Ontex, which will buy almost all the electricity generated from project developer Menapy under a 15-year power supply deal.

Sales revenue declined at the start of the year despite steady inverter shipments. The reverse was mainly due to sluggish project business and SMA is predicting significant increases in sales and earnings in the second half.

The Chinese string inverter giant was the world’s biggest supplier for the fourth year in a row, in spite of having lost 4% in global market shares, according to analyst Wood Mackenzie. Asia-Pacific was again the largest inverter market last year, accounting for 64% of global shipments. Sungrow and SMA were, respectively, the second and third largest providers.