Intersolar Europe 2024 showcases the latest inverter trends

Today, inverters play an important role in the transition to a renewable energy supply. The global increase in photovoltaic installation capacity has led to increased demand. This is clearly reflected in the report “Global Solar PV Inverter and Module-Level Power Electronics Market Share 2023” by Wood Mackenzie. It shows that PV inverter deliveries will grow by 48% in 2023 compared to the previous year. This development is additionally driven by various trends.

• Trend 1: Digitalization makes installation, operation and maintenance simple
  Whether during installation, operation or maintenance, inverters today are characterized by their increasing simplicity thanks to advancing digitalization. The use of digital tools is now common practice in planning, system design and fault diagnosis, for example. This development goes hand in hand with the increased use of artificial intelligence and cloud-based energy management apps, which enable a clear visualization of energy consumption and self-generated energy.
• Trend 2: More flexibility through retrofitting and scalability
  The new generation of inverters is flexible in its use. More and more manufacturers are offering various retrofit options for their devices, for example in the event of a grid failure. They provide their customers with various emergency power options that meet their individual needs, be it the emergency power supply for individual appliances via the socket or for the entire household including large consumers via battery storage. In addition, modern inverters grow flexibly with the requirements and are more scalable, from charging batteries or electric vehicles with surplus solar power to operating heat pumps. If private users and small businesses take this into account when purchasing an inverter, they will not have to replace the device later on as soon as the energy demand increases or the solar system is to be expanded.
• Trend 3: Grid-forming inverters for a renewable energy supply around the clock
  Modern inverters increasingly have stabilizing properties. They play a decisive role in the transition to a power supply system based 100 percent on renewable energies. While conventional power plants were previously responsible for maintaining a stable voltage and grid frequency with their flywheel mass and short-circuit power, grid-forming inverters must now establish themselves with the increase in renewable energy systems and ensure grid stability. In Germany, for example, the “System Stability Roadmap” was recently adopted by the Federal Cabinet. The aim of this was to define the measures and regulations required for a renewable energy supply. A major focus here was on grid-forming inverters.
• Trend 4: Intelligent communication and networking through open interfaces
  The new generation of inverters is characterized by a high level of communication capability and networking. With several digital switching outputs, LAN ports, an integrated WLAN interface and other digital interfaces such as Modbus TCP and SG Ready, they offer numerous advantages. These range from simple commissioning and device configuration to connection to a smart meter for measuring and visualizing self-consumption through to fast data exchange for monitoring and the integration of other consumers such as air conditioning systems, infrared heaters, heat pumps or heating elements.

Intersolar Europe 2024: Experience inverter innovations up close

Intersolar Europe in Munich presents the latest products, technologies and trends in the field of inverters. Visitors will have the opportunity to find out about the latest inverter developments in a total of ten exhibition halls, particularly in Halls B3, B4 and C1, and to familiarize themselves with the various functional options. Leading inverter manufacturers such as Huawei, Power Electronics, SMA and Sungrow will be on site. The trade fair will be rounded off by a varied program of presentations at the Intersolar Forum in Hall A3 at Stand A3.150 and at the Intersolar Europe Conference, which starts the day before the trade fair at the ICM.

From 2024, "The smarter E Award” will combine the prestigious “The smarter E Award”, Intersolar Award, “ees Award”, “Power2Drive Award” and EM-Power Award. It will be presented for the first time this year in the five categories Outstanding Projects, Photovoltaics, Energy Storage, E-Mobility and Smart Integrated Energy.