PHOTON International The Photovoltaic Magazine

Inverters for hybrid systems from Sun Power

This autumn, Sun Power Solartechnik GmbH of Bad Vilbel, Germany, plans to introduce five new on-grid inverters for hybrid systems in their PV Up series with integrated battery chargers.

	© Sun Power Solartechnik GmbH
For combinations of solar, wind, and diesel energy: Inverters in Sun Power´s PV Up series are made for hybrid systems.

The single-phase inverters have nominal powers between 3 and 20 kW and a maximum efficiency of 92 percent. Besides solar panels, they can be connected to diesel generators, and even to wind turbines with an optional adapter.

Unlike Sunny Island, the hybrid inverter of the German market leader SMA, Sun Power's devices work with a DC cabling of the components. The central hybrid inverter changes the DC current of the solar panel and battery to AC; the three-phase AC current of the wind turbine is changed to DC by a rectifier and directly fed into the battery. The diesel is connected on the AC side and can also load the battery.

The inverters can be used for single-phase DC and AC consumer loads. Three-phase consumer loads, like pumps, can also be connected if adapted with frequency converters. »This is much cheaper than operating the whole system with three phases,« says Hans Oppermann, managing director of Sun Power. Thus, the company only offers user-specific three-phase hybrid inverters with a minimum nominal power of 50 kW. »The fundamental idea was to keep the basic device as cheap as possible,« says Oppermann.

The battery is charged depending on its charging condition, the availability of the energy sources, and the power needs of the consumer loads. A junction box with additional software control is optionally available; it defines the priorities of the loads. For the standard version (without a junction box and an adapter for a wind turbine), Sun Power advises its distributers to charge end-consumer prices between €4,388 ($4,288) for the PV Up 3000 and €23,933 ($23,385) for the PV Up 20 000. The inverters are sold worldwide.

datasheet

Sun Power Solartechnik GmbH
Marktplatz 2-4
61118 Bad Vilbel, Germany
phone +49/06101/5845-50, fax -61
sales@sunpower.de
www.sunpower.de