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D irect usage of solar power saves money and has become an important factor for the fi-nancing of solar energy systems, Andreas

Schlumberger, Head of Communications at KACO new energy stresses: “In light of the fact that funding sys-tems like the EEG are falling apart all over Europe and that the production costs for solar power are falling rapidly, self consumption is one of the most impor-tant drivers of further market development.” Sputnik Engineering AG also sees self consumption as a positive trend, but points out regional differences: “Development differs from country to country and de-pends on local funding policies as well as the electric-ity price. In markets such as Germany and Italy, self consumption will become increasingly important. By contrast, the issue is not as pressing in Switzerland, due to the low electricity rates for private households. Nevertheless, there are an increasing number of home owners who want to become more independent of energy producers, in order to mitigate the risk of rising electricity costs.”

When asked about self consumption, almost all inverter manufacturers respond positively. The ma-jority of them are currently in the process of adapting their products to the new market situation, such as Steca Elektronik GmbH for example. “Self consump-tion is set to increase in all areas during the coming years in Germany and other markets,” Product Manager Roland Burger says, “so we will be seeing new products that reduce the cost of demand-side management and energy storage.” Steca has focused on smaller inverters in recent years and now has 6

models with Coolcept topology and output powers between 1.8 and 4.2 kW in its product range. “They can perform energy management functions via the standard RS485 interface,” Burger writes. “On the one hand, this allows information on the current en-ergy output to be read; on the other hand, perform-ance commands can be transferred to the inverter through the interface. Thus, our inverters are suitable for control by an external energy manager. This is cur-rently possible using devices from meteocontrol and Solare Datensysteme. However, we also have our own energy manager: the StecaGrid SEM. This is a very inexpensive device that complements the data loggers made by Solare Datensysteme and meteo-control at the lower end of the price range.” Since self consumption and storage are best optimised by the functions of a modern demand-side management system, Steca has initiated a collaboration with a well-known heating manufacturer to explore the pos-sibility of integrating heat pumps with domestic ener-gy management, Burger continues. In March, Steca will introduce a new family of three-phase grid invert-ers in the power range between 3 kW and 5.5 kW.

Kostal Solar Electric GmbH has big plans, according to Director of Marketing and Communication Markus Vetter: “For the year 2014, we are planning a com-plete re-launch of our PIKO family in the residential sector, which we define as capacities of up to 12 kW. It will also be expanded by a 12 kW device.” After al-ready introducing the first product from their new line last year, version 3.0, they will be launching the

Squeezing the most out of small inverters

The Galvo is available in the power range between 1.5 and 3.1 kW. Energy management functions are integrated. Photo: Fronius International

In the coming years, self consumption

of solar energy will increase in Europe

and other markets. For this reason,

there is a need for new products that

support demand-side management

and energy storage, among other

things. Manufacturers of PV inverters

are already working hard on this.

However, they will not be presenting

their innovations in great detail or

large numbers until the Intersolar

Europe, which takes place at the

beginning of July in Munich.

The PIKO inverters of the new generation impress with their flexibility. The proven PIKO technology is now more enhanced and more adaptable. Expanded product range for more flexible system planning Technically compatible with the latest generation of PV modules Reduction of electricity costs through dynamic self-consumption controlYou will find personal smart connections in our free seminars and at the service hotline.The KOSTAL Group - a global, family-run company with 100 years of experience.www.kostal-solar-electric.com . Tel.: +49 761 47744-100

The new PIKO – Flexibility can be even more flexible

PIKO_AnzeigenA4_EN.indd 2 24.01.14 09:05

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Photovoltaics inverters

PIKO 10 and 12 in the second quarter of this year, and most likely 4.2, 5.5 and 7.0 during the fourth quarter. Kostal is also planning to add higher per-formance classes to its product portfolio; the intro-duction of PIKO 15 and 17 models is scheduled for the third quarter.

“For all PIKO models of the next generation, we are relying on proven product benefits, such as flexi-bility, ‘Smart Home’ compatible communication and handiness that are shown in things like the lateral re-cessed handles and a magnetic DC circuit breaker that does not require contact,” Vetter continues. Sim-ilar to the previous inverters, the new generation fea-tures a freely configurable, voltage-free switching contact for intelligently controlling different power consumers in the household. With the optional PIKO BA sensor, it is possible to dynamically control active power. Kostal is of course also involved in the Smart Home area. This is why it is a member of the EEBus Initiative, whose aim is to further develop the EEBus

standard as a networking concept and establish it on the market. Vetter concludes: “We are certainly not divulging a secret when we predict that the inverter market for self consumption will continue to develop positively. For this reason, we successfully placed a product for this segment on the market last year: the PIKO BA system.”

The inverter series Soladin WEB by Mastervolt, which covers the power range between 700 W and 1.5 kW typical for the residential sector, won the UK Solar In-dustry Award 2013 in the category ‘Product of the Year’. This prize is awarded annually at the SOLAR UK Conference. “Mastervolt is very pleased about this award,” Solar Product Manager David Bassie com-ments on the award and provides some background information: “The Soladin WEB is based on a new phi-losophy: Instead of building an inverter and then thinking about communication interfaces, we incor-porated the experiences and expectations of Internet users directly during the development process. This mainly led to high demands on the user-friendliness of the product. For example, we made sure that the inverter could be installed in a few steps and is really easy to monitor.” The inverters, which are produced in the Netherlands and have now won an award, are highly suitable for self consumption applications, in Bassie’s opinion. Integrated WiFi and the IntelliWeb communication module allow selfers to monitor their systems at any time and from any location via an Internet portal.

Q3 Energieelektronik GmbH & Co. KG recommends its QX Series inverters with generator capacities between 1.5 and 6.6 kW for small to medium rooftop systems. According to a statement by the company, another device will be introduced during the course of the year: the QY1500. When combined with an en-ergy storage system, it can be used as a Q_BEE ener-gy system for self consumption. According to the company, the inverters are equipped with features that ensure an optimum proportion of self consump-tion to meet the needs of operators: The devices have two relay outputs that can be used to control power consumers. Time windows as well as activation and deactivation criteria can be defined. For example, the operator can specify that a relay should start the clothes dryer when a PV capacity of 2.5 kW is reached. In case the PV system does not produce enough power, the dryer will start at a pre-defined point in time anyway. Discussions with manufacturers of heat pumps and home appliances have also already taken place with the aim of exploring the possibilities of a demand-side management system.

The manufacturer Refusol GmbH says it has two prod-uct ranges for one-family and two-family houses: single-phase inverters with outputs between 1.8 kW and 4.2 kW and three-phase versions between 8.25 and 20 kW. The models 003K through 005K, which have power ratings between 3.6 and 4.6 kW, are the ones primarily used for small to medium-sized PV

PIKO inverters from Kostal Solar Electric GmbH Photo: Kostal

The Steca Grid 3600 with Coolcept topology from Steca Elektronik Photo: Steca Elektronik

Solar Edition 63

/ Battery Charging Systems / Welding Technology / Solar Electronics

FRONIUS GALVO: SINGLE-PHASE STRING INVERTER / The Fronius Galvo string inverter is perfect for smaller photovoltaic systems of between 1.5 and 3.1 kW. Its integrated energy management relay maximises self-consumption. A host of other smart features makes the Fronius Galvo one of the most future-proof inverters in its class: for example, the simple connection to the internet by WLAN or Ethernet, the standardised interfaces for home automation, and plug-in card technology, which allows additional functions to be retrofitted at any time. Curious? Find out more at: www.fronius.com

INTEGRATED WLAN INTERFACE

/ Enables straightforward connection to the internet

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Photovoltaics inverters

systems in the residential sector. According to Michael Groll, the Head of Global Marketing, what particularly distinguishes these products, aside from first-class efficiency, are the convection cool-ing, easy installation due to low weight and quick plug-and-play connec-tion, IP 65 protection for reliable outdoor use and the integrated data log-ger for easy monitoring.

“All of our inverters have an external control-ler and already fulfil the requirements of a modern feed-in management sys-tem,” Groll says. “In ad-

dition to conventional feed-in solutions, we began offering the PV Heater at the end of 2013, which we believe is a smart alterna-tive for self consumption of solar energy. The energy created by the PV generator is directly stored by the PV Heater as hot wa-ter (for DHW or heating). Self consumption solutions will soon increase sharply in the residential sector and especially in the com-mercial area. The applications are becom-ing more diversified, as the example of our PV Heater demonstrates.”

Sputnik Engineering AG points to its new SolarMax P-Series, which is especially suit-able for private rooftop systems up to 6 kW. The P-Series achieves an efficiency of up to 98% and has single or dual trackers, so even complex roof systems and east-west orientations can be optimally utilised. Using the web-based application MaxView, oper-

ators can monitor the PV system at any time and from any location. In addition, they can access data on the total yield by day, month and year, and compare the energy produc-tion of different inverters with each other.

In April of last year, the 6MT2 inverter was introduced on the market; starting in February, it will be available across Europe. The 6MT2 completes the SolarMax MT-Series. Thanks to its three-phase feed-in, it conforms to the strict requirements of local grid operators. The dual-tracking sys-tem ensures maximum energy yield, even on roofs with different orientations or dor-mers. The 6MT2 inverter is characterised by its simple, handy design and can be in-stalled quickly and easily.

The devices in the P-Series have option-al inputs and outputs that allow system op-erators to increase the proportion of elec-tricity for their own use. For example, it is possible to couple a PV system with control-lable energy consumers, such as a heat pump. SolarMax P inverters can be retrofit-ted with a P-Battery upgrade kit. This con-sists of a battery interface, including energy management, and the corresponding solar battery.

The product portfolio of Victron Energy B.V. includes the new Phoenix series inverters with AC power outputs of 800 VA or 1200 VA for small to medium-sized roof-mounted sys-tems. Information from the company’s web-site indicates that these inverters are suit-able for a wide range of applications. Devel-opment work was targeted at creating an in-verter with a clean sine wave output and high efficiency, according to the website. Cutting-edge hybrid HF technology was used, making it possible to offer a quality product with compact dimensions and low weight.

Solar electricity for hot water – the PV Heater by Refusol Photo: Refusol

SolarMax string inverters from the P-Series Photo: Sputnik Engineering

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Solar Edition 65

At Victron, they are thinking about solutions that could increase the share of renewables in the elec-tricity supply. However, the aim is not only to increase self consumption, but also to provide a higher degree of independence from the public grid. For the Dutch, the starting point for these considerations was the difficulty of keeping the public grid stable with the in-creasing feed-in of solar and wind energy. They came to the following realisation: “Without energy storage, there can be no independence from the grid!” VE Storage Hub’ is the solution they propose for this problem. The heart of the system is a lithium-ion bat-tery. It compensates for load spikes and provides the main power consumers connected to the system with electricity in case of a possible power blackout on the public grid. With a sufficiently large battery capacity and, if necessary, using an additional micro fuel cell or an emergency generator, grid independence can be achieved.

Valenia has more than 30 years of experience in the development and manufacture of inverters. Based on this, they offer a series of PV inverters that ensure maximum reliability and performance for small and medium-sized PV installations. The devices from the Aurus series offer performance levels between 1.0 kW and 6.0 kW, according to the company. The customer also has the choice of single or double MPPT designs. In order to offer solutions for a market that focuses more on energy storage and integration of home sys-tems, Valenia developed the Energy Maximiser

Function, Silvia Spillere from marketing writes. Using this function, all Aurus inverters optimise the propor-tion of PV electricity used for self consumption and are able to control heat pumps, hot water boilers and other equipment.

SMA Solar Technology AG has been successful for many years with low-power inverters from its Sunny Boy range. Recently, this has mainly been due to a new technical development; SMA Smart Home. “This allows the generation of PV power and consumption to continuously be adjusted to each other, enabling the highest possible ratio of self consumption to be achieved,” Susanne Henkel, Manager Corporate Press says about the technology, which is already in use in many systems. The modular design of SMA Smart Home allows each system operator to individ-ually determine to what extent they use energy man-agement, thus enabling them to meet their own ener-gy needs with PV electricity they produce themselves. This applies to both existing as well as new installa-tions. Henkel continues: “In addition to the PV invert-er, the corresponding Sunny Home Manager is the core element of this basic solution. This is because it functions as a control centre and plans as well as con-trols the use of solar electricity. SMA recommends ex-panding this solution with a storage system. This al-lows even more efficient energy management and provides greater independence from electricity prices and the public power supply.” With a view towards the future viability of the system, SMA is co-operating

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Photovoltaics inverters

with leading manufacturers from other sectors; for example with Miele in the area of home appliances and with Vaillant and Stiebel Eltron in the field of heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems. Starting with Sunny Home Manager software version 1.07, which will be released soon, a WWK300 heat pump from Stiebel Eltron or a TTA300 from Tecalor can be integrated in the home energy management system with Smart Home, using a radio-controlled electrical socket.

At Fronius International GmbH, the Galvo inverter and its three-phase little brother Symo are among the de-vices that are particularly well suited for private rooftop installations because their low power ranges are most likely to correspond with the power output of the PV generator, ensuring a high percentage ratio of self consumption. Galvo is a single-phase galvani-cally isolated inverter in the performance class be-tween 1.5 and 3.1 kW (1.5 kW, 2 kW, 2.5 kW, 3.0 kW, and 3.1 kW). Thanks to its built-in power manage-ment functions, it is particularly well suited for self consumption systems. This also applies to the trans-formerless Symo model; it is available with outputs of 3.0 kW, 3.7 kW and 4.5 kW.

Fronius has recently begun co-operating with the company Loxone, the inventor of a miniserver-based solution for home automation. According to Fronius, the goal is to offer the customers of both companies a modern energy management system. This will en-able them to increase their self consumption and save costs. It will also lead to a faster amortisation of the investment costs of the photovoltaic system. In addition, it will provide greater independence from the energy supply.

Power-One introduced the three-phase inverters Trio 5.8, Trio 7.5 and Trio 8.5 in mid-2013, specifical-ly for PV systems on one-family and two-family homes. With capacities ranging from 5.8 to 8.5 kW, they are currently the smallest string inverters from Power-One’s Aurora Trio product line. The main spec-ifications: Dual input with independent MPP tracking for Trio 7.5 / 8.5, efficiency of up to 98 %, data logger

and Smart Grid functions integrated on expansion slots, reactive power management, sliding cover and light weight (max. 28 kg) for easy installation and maintenance, and IP65 housing. When it comes to fu-ture market opportunities in the area of residential systems, Power-One is quite confident, as demon-strated by a statement by Paolo Casini, Vice President Marketing: “In combination with energy storage solu-tions, we expect residential PV systems to play an im-portant role in the industry. Therefore, unless com-pletely out-dated decisions are made, which are in-tended to protect the interest of utilities and carbon fuel power generating companies, residential PV is expected to be the only segment with a constant double digit growth rate in the years to come.”

Andreas Schlumberger, Head of Corporate Communi-cations at KACO new energy has announced new products for June of this year: “In June, we will be in-troducing our new 1-phase (TL1) and 3-phase de vices (TL3) with smaller capacities on the market. Both will certainly be interesting for operators of smaller rooftop systems, depending on the structure of the grid to which the systems are connected. The TL1 group has AC power outputs between 2.0 and 4.6 kW. The larger versions will be equipped with two MPP trackers to control east-west configurations or opti-mally integrate dormers. The 3-phase inverters with 5.0 TL3 to 9.0 TL3 kVA will essentially have the same features as the already available TL3 up to 20 kW, but in a more compact housing.” When asked if all of the products will have modern energy management func-tions to provide the operator an optimal ratio of self consumption, Schlumberger answers: “Our external intelligence for network and system security, Powador protect, has a high control potential for in-house com-ponents such as electrical consumers. In this area, we will offer a development that complements these management abilities. In connection with this, we are planning to introduce a new control board, which we expect will have 4 digital outputs.” Kaco’s modified Priwatt mode is already available for the home area (up to 10 kW). It allows household appliances to be additionally switched on via an external power relay

Inverters of the Sunny Boy class and the Sunny Home Manager by SMA Solar Technology AG Photo: SMA

Solar Edition

if there is sufficient solar power; the threshold value can be pre-selected. For example, electric heaters, immersion heaters and hot water storage systems can be activated to help increase self consumption. The new, advanced Priwatt mode with expanded con-figuration capabilities is available for all country set-tings, and this without password protection.

On the subject of demand-side management, Schlumberger confirmed that initial discussions had been held with a well-known heating products manu-facturer, among others. In this field of technology, de-velopments could draw upon joint research projects that Kaco new energy is carrying out with manufactur-ers of heating systems. In a model community, the energy management system developed by Kaco con-trols heat pumps and heat storage systems, among other things. The heat pumps are powered by the surplus energy from the PV generators.

Sungrow Deutschland GmbH will be introducing in-verters in Germany in the first quarter of 2014 for PV systems on one-family and two-family houses, ac-cording to Tobias Krauth, Branch Manager in Munich. The devices, which have capacities from 3.0 to 12.0 kW (there are also models with more than 12 kW), can be used in small projects in Asia, Australia and Europe, according to Krauth. In June, new 1-phase devices with performance ranges between 3.0 and 5.0 kW will follow. The introduction of a hybrid inverter with 10 kW of power is planned for the fourth quarter. Sungrow’s 3 kW to 6 kW units are among the smallest and lightest in their class, according to Krauth. Thanks to extensive communication options, the user can check the operational status of the system directly via smart phone, without additional devices, and take appropriate action. Furthermore, all data is uploaded to a web platform and can be accessed using a web browser.

Wilhelm Wilming

Inverters from Sungrow with extensive communica-tion functions Photo: Sungrow

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