After a gap of 2 years, during which the world attained the cumulative installed solar PV capacity milestone of 1 TW, solar PV industry is back to 'business as usual' with one of the world's largest shows in an offline format, Intersolar Europe 2022.
TaiyangNews' team is bringing to you the major and minor highlights from ground zero at Messe München, and will continue to do so for all 3 days. Here are some highlights from day 1:
Intersolar Award 2022: Gamesa Electric, REC Solar and M10 Solar Equipment were adjudged winners of the Intersolar Award 2022 for various products. Gamesa won it for its high performance PROTEUS PV4700 central inverter for large solar parks. REC Solar was selected for its Alpha Pure Series lead-free PV module and M10 for its innovative shingle matrix interconnection system Surface.
EGP bats for agrivoltaics: The Head of Environment and Impacts Mitigation of Italy's Enel Green Power (EGP), Miriam Di Blasi during the Intersolar Conference session on solar PV technology for agricultural land batted for large PV plants. She said, "Using large PV plants, a sustainable solar park is integral to preserving biodiversity and increasing agricultural productivity." Sharing preliminary results from the company's agrivoltaic research, Blasi reported better yield for certain crops as peppers.
BNEF calls EU solar targets unambitious: Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) Solar Analyst Jenny Chase during her presentation termed European Commission's 2030 targets for solar 'broadly unambitious' that are not necessarily driving large volumes this decade. New capacity can be encouraged via making grid connections available and speeding up the planning permissions. Currently, however, high merchant power prices and corporate targets are pushing solar outside direct government schemes, she said.
SolarEdge to launch SolarEdge Home: SolarEdge Technologies said it will launch SolarEdge Home in Europe at the Intersolar this year. It describes SolarEdge Home as as an innovative home energy management solution that's designed for both single and 3-phase applications. It allows homeowners to optimize their solar energy production, usage and storage. It comprises SolarEdge Home Inverters, home battery, backup interface, smart energy devices as SolarEdge EV Charger, hot water controller and smart meters and an operating system. "We believe that smart energy management is increasingly important as electricity costs and consumption continue to grow. Innovative solutions that can interconnect multiple energy sources, consumption loads, and battery storage are key to future energy independence and sustainable living," said SolarEdge's CEO Zivi Lando.
Huawei's new solar and storage offerings: Huawei launched its all-new Smart PV and Energy Storage Solutions for utility scale PV plants, energy storage systems, commercial and industrial applications, residential uses and smart micro-grids, at Intersolar on May 11, 2022. Among the new offerings is the Smart PV Solution that comprises a smart DC system, smart I-V curve diagnoses 4.0, smart string-level disconnected technology and grid forming features. It is equipped with DC arc detection and emergency disconnection. Huawei says the new Smart String Energy Storage System (ESS) addresses limited capacity, short service life, complex O&M and high safety risks of conventional solutions. It also upgraded its 1+3+X Residential Smart PV Solutions 2.0 as 1+4+X design. The company claims its smart energy controller solution enhances PV self-consumption rate to 90% from 70% in the previous generation.
Sungrow unveils 1+X modular inverter: China's Sungrow launched its 1+X modular inverter at the event targeting utility scale solar installations. It comprises a minimum 1.1 MW single unit and 8.8 MW as maximum capacity via combing 8 units. The company claims the solution boasts modularization at the inverter level, system level and component level. The 3-level modularization makes the power plant design more flexible and any future O&M more convenient, it added.