Inverter: the PV plant technological heart

Today an inverter for the photovoltaic system is no longer entrusted only with the conversion of the energy produced by the photovoltaic panels but also other important functions; all this taking for granted the quality and technology (primarily about efficiency) which are not always taken for granted.

In addition, inverters with special characteristics are available on the market to optimize efficiency and costs in large plants.

Accumulation management

The inverters must manage the accumulation of the energy produced by the photovoltaic system to be able to exploit it even in times of low or no irradiation; for this reason, two types of inverters have spread:

• hybrid inverter where the same device manages both the photovoltaic production and the battery;
• retrofit inverter that deals with the management of electricity storage only.

More information can be obtained by downloading the free VP Solar Storage Guide and Storage Map…

Communication between devices

The PV inverter becomes the energy heart of the building it has the possibility of communicating with other devices to manage energy in an optimized way: it can be connected to home automation systems for load control, heat pumps and in some cases also communicate directly with the appliances.

The continuous connection between devices and the internet creates an ecosystem that can be monitored, continuously updated, and controlled remotely or with messages, including voice, by the user.

High voltage inverters – 1.500V

Today, even in large photovoltaic systems, “string inverters” are used, also available in sizes over 200 kW and with numerous MPPT input channels.

This is due to the overall economic benefits that take into account various factors, such as efficiency, service continuity, installation, and maintenance costs.

To reduce costs, the use of “longer” strings of photovoltaic modules is desirable; for this, the inverters must have a very high input voltage, even 1.500V.

This factor determines the possibility of being able to “oversize” the photovoltaic field concerning the nominal power of the inverter, thus ensuring greater efficiency and a certain constancy of the power output from the system.

For more information, for system configuration, and for choosing the inverter that best suits customer needs, contact us at: [email protected].