- Technology matters when it comes to extreme oversizing: The Sunny Central inverters from SMA are designed for maximum oversizing capabilities.
- PV power plant projects with SMA central inverters profit from more flexibility, reliability, technology safety and highest profitability.
With oversizing, the PV power plant’s nominal power is achieved faster in the morning, and the PV power plant remains connected to the grid longer in the evening. Calculated for the total operating time of the PV project, higher energy yields can thus be generated. Adequate oversizing increases the profitability of a PV power plant. The Sunny Central inverters from SMA with their robust design offer maximum flexibility for project-specific oversizing.
Reasons for Oversizing a PV power plant
- Irradiation values are too low e.g. in the winter month, especially for power plants far outside the sunbelt regions
- Ambient temperatures are too high
- Pollution on the modules
- Suboptimal orientation of the modules throughout the day (the factor decreases significantly with tracking systems)
- Module degradation: module performance drops annually by approx. 0.5%; after 25 years approx.80% of the original nominal power still remains
- Mismatching losses caused, for example, by cable losses
Related news: SMA announces construction of gigawatt factory in Germany
Taking the mirror cloud effect into account
SMA takes the effect of short-term solar irradiation increase (mirror cloud effect) into account with a high short circuit capability on the DC side of the inverter. This corresponds also to an outstanding oversizing possibility of up to 250 % (peak PV array power in relation to the maximum AC inverter output power).
If you want to learn more about the mirror cloud effect, you can find all information in s´the SMA Whitepaper. Download it HERE : SMA_Oversizing_Whitepaper_1683752342
Oversizing with opex benefit
With Sunny Central inverters, plant owners have the opportunity to get the maximum efficiency out of their PV power plant through an extremly high oversizing capacity while maintaining the same life expectancy, availability and operating costs of the devices.
Sunny Central Inverters offer:
- High PV voltages up to 1,500 V -> 38% design margin
- High PV short-circuit current by taking cloud effects into account
- Oversizing up to 250%
- More connected module power per inverter
- Real utility inverter for PV power plants, designed and optimized for full load operation
For enquiries for solar PV projects in South Africa and Sub Saharan Africa contact: Daniel Lambrechts Daniel.Lambrechts@sma-solar.com
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
About SMA
As a leading global specialist in photovoltaic and storage system technology, the SMA Group is setting the standards today for the decentralized and renewable energy supply of tomorrow. SMA’s portfolio contains a wide range of efficient PV and battery inverters, holistic system solutions for PV and battery-storage systems of all power classes, intelligent energy management systems and charging solutions for electric vehicles and power-to-gas applications. Digital energy services as well as extensive services up to and including operation and maintenance services for PV power plants round off SMA’s range. SMA inverters with a total output of more than 120 gigawatts have been installed in more than 190 countries worldwide. SMA’s multi-award-winning technology is protected by more than 1,700 patents and utility models. Since 2008, the Group’s parent company, SMA Solar Technology AG, has been listed on the Prime Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (S92) and is listed in the TecDAX index and SDAX index.
