Solar Power World

Software makes solar planning easier

Manufacturer of solar inverters SMA offers photovoltaic system design software. The Sunny Design 2.0. is available for free download at www.SMA-America.com and offers a variety of new features and a user-friendly interface that the company says make PV array planning even easier. SMA says its Sunny Design helps solar installers and system planners visualize possible PV plant designs and select the optimum configuration quickly and easily. Based on module selection and other... Read More

Teaming up for transformerless inverters

The transformerless Sunny Boy TL-US weighs less than transformer-based inverters, making it significantly easier for installers to mount. German-based inverter manufacturer SMA partnered with Underwriters Laboratories (UL) to offer a transformerless inverter workshop at the Solar Power International show in October. The free training session focused on how transformerless inverters in ungrounded PV systems can be safer than grounded arrays. The workshop also included a presentation... Read More

Solar Analysis Tool Available As iPhone Application

Solar installers and consumers looking for a simple-to-use, yet powerful, portable solar site analysis tool can now download the SMA Solarchecker iPhone application from the Apple App Store.  The free iPhone application provides users with a quick way of finding out how much energy – and revenue – a solar power sysytem could produce at virtually any given location.The Solarchecker utilizes the iPhone’s GPS locator to determine the user’s location. Its magnetic... Read More