What follows are the Top Solar Inverter Products for 2016. Integration is evident within electrical design, and you’ll see power optimzers, microinverters and larger power converters on this list. Take a look at this year’s innovative products within inverters.
Power Optimizers
Alencon Systems SPOT – String Power Optimizer
Alencon’s SPOT will allow you to generate anywhere from 5 to 10% more energy from an existing PV plant by offering more granular maximum power point tracking (MPPT), voltage step-up to minimize conduction losses and fixed voltage to the inverter to improve DC to AC power conversion efficiency.
Tigo TS4 Power Optimizer
TS4 offers flexibility, allowing installers to pick five levels of functionality: diodes, monitoring, safety, optimization and long strings. These five covers are easily exchangeable and allow for important reduction of O&M costs. The TS4 covers are so easy to swap, there’s no need to replace the junction box or the entire panel.
Microinverters
APsystems YC500i Microinverter
APsystems offers the YC500i microinverter with EnergyMax power handling, trunk cable and integrated ground. EnergyMax technology allows the dual-module unit to produce 274-Wp output per side (548 W total), an almost 10% increase in peak output over conventional microinverters, to handle the power of today’s high-output PV modules.
CyboEnergy On/Off-Grid Solar Mini-Inverter
The On/Off-Grid CyboInverter has an on-grid output and an off-grid output port. Each inverter has four input channels that can connect to solar, wind or battery and produce 1.2 kW AC power. Each channel has its own MPPT to eliminate partial shading. When the grid is down, it will switch to off-grid mode to power critical loads.
Darfon America Corp. G320 Microinverter
Many of the microinverters on the market today are having trouble supporting new PV modules. Due to the higher power output of new modules, microinverters clip excess power so you lose energy at peak power production. Darfon’s G320 microinverter supports high-powered 60- or 72-cell modules with an output of 350 W.
Enphase Energy M250 Microinverter
The versatile Enphase M250 Microinverter performs in both residential and commercial solar PV installations and is compatible with both 60-cell and 72-cell modules. With its all-AC approach and integrated grounding, the M250 delivers increased energy harvest and reduces design and installation complexity.
KACO new energy blueplanet Ultraverter
The Ultraverter is packaged with only three separate SKUs, while competitor products often require larger numbers of different sizes and components, a common cause of high inventory levels. Eliminating costly proprietary balance of system components, KACO’s Ultraverter is customized for compatibility with the most accessible, user-friendly and cost effective components in PV design.
Magnum Energy by Sensata Technologies MicroGT 500 Microinverter
The MicroGT is optimized to communicate with a Magnum battery-based inverter system, allowing the addition of battery storage. Each unit supports two 310-W modules per inverter, reducing installation time, and are UL1741 and NEC690.12 compliant. The integrated MagWeb GT online dashboard makes viewing system data easy.
String Inverters
Delta Products Corp. M80U, 3PH 80kW UL String Inverter
With best-in-class 98.8% efficiency, Delta’s M80U is the industry’s only 80-kW inverter with an optimal cost and performance profile. Complete with a ruggedized NEMA4X enclosure and designed for ease-of-installation-and-serviceability, the M80U offers the industry’s lowest LCOE making it the optimal building block for Commercial, industrial and utility scale installations.
Ginlong (Ningbo) Technologies Solis-1P(6-10K)-4G-Us
Founded in 2005, Ginlong Technologies manufactures the award winning Solis brand of PV string inverters. The Solis-1P(6-10K)-4G-US product family features industry-leading 3 and 4 MPPT designs and high frequency switching technology to maximize the production, offer great design flexibility with proven reliability and deliver significant long-term ROI for solar stakeholders.
Growatt 33000/36000/40000 TL3-US
Growatt’s inverters provide excellent performance, high reliability and a flexible design. Features include 1,000-Vdc input special for large-scale plants, string level monitoring and the ability to place 50 units in parallel per transformer.
HiQ Solar TrueString Inverter
This NEMA6 three-phase string inverter is a rugged problem-solver. Have a difficult roof layout? Unequal strings are no problem. Harsh conditions? It’s sealed and ready. A retrofit with no mounting space, or a carport with difficult aesthetic restrictions? Tuck it under the array out of sight. Try the award winning 480-V, or new 208-V model.
Ideal Power SunDial String Inverter
Ideal Power’s SunDial is the first commercial three-phase PV string inverter that is field upgradeable to solar+storage. The optional bi-directional DC port enables “plug-and-play” solar+storage rather than installing a second converter, which would also need additional wiring, mounting, interconnection etc.— all at extra cost.
Pika Energy Pika Islanding String Inverter X7601
The Pika Islanding inverter is a U.S.-made, battery-ready 7.6-kW grid-tied inverter with islanding performance. As part of the Pika Energy Island, the Pika Islanding inverter offers a simple, single-inverter approach to using smart batteries with solar. The X7601 is listed to UL 1741 and available now.
SMA America Sunny Boy Series of String Inverters
Contractors today seek cost-effective, simple solutions that maximize time and deliver high performance. The newest Sunny Boy-US series with Secure Power Supply is the next generation in PV technology. Simple, flexible design and streamlined installation means systems are up and running faster than ever without sacrificing performance, security or reliability.
Sungrow SG125HV String Inverter
The SG125HV is a 1,500-Vdc inverter with an output of 125 kW, the highest for any string inverter in the world. Features include: 99% efficiency, 1.5 DC:AC Ratio, UL 1741 and Rule 21 ready, cabinet weighs just 143 lb. The SG125HV’s high output and efficiency makes it ideal for commercial and utility-scale solar projects.
Yaskawa – Solectria Solar PVI 50/60TL String Inverter
The PVI 50/60TL is equipped with three MPPTs (five inputs per MPPT) and allow for 1.5 DC/AC ratio. These two differentiators alone allow greater design flexibility enabling contractors to utilize varying array orientations, tilt angles, azimuth, string lengths and modules, therefore increasing a system’s production output (and ROI) and decreasing the number of inverters needed.
Central Inverters
Eaton Power Xpert Solar inverters
Eaton’s 2,000-kW and 2,200-kW Power Xpert Solar inverters provide contractors with some of the highest power ratings for cost effective grid-tied, utility-scale projects. The Eaton inverters yield best in class levelized cost of energy, have an industry-leading 98.5% efficiency, and are tested to meet the UL 1741 standard.
Ingeteam IS PowerMax B Series Central Inverter
Ingeteam’s PV central inverters are able to supply up to a maximum power of 1,637 kVA in a single unit, making its power density more than 5.34W/in3. This UL174- compliant 1,500-Vdc inverter is totally bankable, as it has been proved on the Black & Veatch’s Bankability and Reliability report.
Schneider Electric Conext SmartGen Central Inverter
The Conext SmartGen is a 1,500-V cloud-connected power conversion platform for utility-scale renewable power and energy storage with unmatched reliability, lower total cost of ownership and faster return on investment.