Sungrow’s System-Level DC-Coupled ESS At SNEC 2026

Solar PV-plus-energy storage systems (ESS) provider Sungrow introduced its latest system-level DC-coupled architecture, PowerMatrix system, at SNEC 2026. The manufacturer said it developed this product to address the limitations of existing power systems that face challenges in maintaining balance between renewable energy supply and demand while ensuring system stability under dynamic operating conditions.   

The company emphasized the product’s matrix-like integration of PV, storage, grid, and loads on a single platform. This comprises the newly launched Matrix inverter, MPPT booster, and PowerTitan 3.0 series ESS. Unlike the AC-coupled system, where PV generation, storage, and grid-support functions are typically handled through separate stages, this DC-coupled system unifies the architecture. Each direct DC interconnection between the PV array and the ESS, which acts as a node, forms a distributed power matrix.  

It features an MPPT architecture with a channel density of 28 channels/MW, reducing string-level mismatch losses. It also helps generate optimal PV generation from a PV array, which comprises a group of strings with orientation differences throughout the roof. The company noted that the MPPT features a booster circuit to maximize solar harvesting, but it does not provide the rated DC/AC overload capacities. The connected ESS can charge or discharge the stored energy for up to 3,000 cycles. In addition, Sungrow says this direct PV-to-storage charging reduces multi-stage power conversion and improves energy transfer efficiency by up to 5%. It also increases usable storage capacity by up to 8% through cell-to-plant state-of-charge (SOC) balancing, claimed the manufacturer.  

In terms of grid operations, this multi-path redundancy architecture isolates faults at the node level, allowing system operation at unaffected sections. Additionally, each sub-array within the system can function as an independent solar-plus-storage unit with grid-forming capability. As a result, each node contributes to voltage and frequency stability for both grid-connected and islanded operation. It stabilizes grid voltages within 10 ms and delivers synthetic inertia within 5 ms of a grid blackout.   

On the installation side, the company claimed that this architecture can reduce balance-of-system (BoS) costs by more than 10% compared to traditional distributed counterparts through system integration and simplified project design.   

Sungrow says it has designed this system-level architecture for multiple applications, such as utility, commercial & industrial (C&I), mining microgrids, and AI data centers.