German inverter company Kaco opens new R&D center 

On July 8, German inverter manufacturer Kaco Gerätetechnik GmbH opened its Development and Logistics Center in Neckarsulm with a befitting celebration, to which prominent local and state politicians were invited.

© KACO Gerätetechnik GmbH Kaco opened a new inverter development and logistics facility in Neckarsulm, Germany.

By comparison, the launch of its Research and Development Center in Kassel, Hesse passed by rather quietly, although it must have been a very significant step for the company. The Kaco branch in the Central German state of Hesse only employs a handful of people, but its establishment is cause for some excitement: after all, it involves moving some experts from the Institute for Solar Energy Generation Technology (ISET) in Kassel from the research into the business arena. Michael Viotto, the ex-group leader of power electronics at ISET, the leading German solar research institute involved in on-grid inverter technology, is now to promote the development of new products.

In total, the inverter manufacturer, which also offers rectifiers and inverters for railway technology in its product range, now has around one tenth of its currently about 100 employees working in the area of development. Kaco aims to sell 30,000 inverters and generate turnover of €65 million ($78.8 million) in 2005. Last year the company says it produced inverters with a total power rating of 76.8 MW. The company, which was spun off only seven years ago from Kaco Elektrotechnik GmbH, is therefore the fourth largest European manufacturer following SMA, Fronius, and Sputnik. Recently, a US office was opened in San Francisco.

Jochen Siemer
© PHOTON International, September 2005