Advanced Energy Industries 500kW PV Inverters Achieve 98% CEC Efficiency Rating
Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. (AE) announced that its 500kW Solaron® PV inverters have achieved a 98% efficiency rating from the California Energy Commission (CEC), a record breaking efficiency rating for any inverter in this power class. Advanced Energy also held the previous industry benchmarks of 97% and then 97.5%. By achieving 98% average efficiency without carve-outs for auxiliary power or other adjustments, the company states that it is further distancing its products from competitors in the large commercial and utility-scale solar inverter market.
Inverter efficiency determines the amount of energy converted from a solar array to power that is delivered to the system owner, financier, or utility. Each percentage increase in efficiency leads to additional kilowatt-hours of energy produced, resulting in more cash and RECs generated from a solar PV system. By improving peak energy efficiency to 98.7% and weighted efficiency to 98%, which is one to three percentage points higher than comparable commercial and utility-scale solar PV inverters, Advanced Energy’s new Solaron 500 HE inverters can generate more cash-flow for project developers, owners and financiers.
"While many look at efficiency as a technical milestone, this is really a financial and business milestone for the solar PV industry," said Gregg Patterson, Executive Vice President and General Manager Advanced Energy Renewables. "Solar developers and project financiers know that by using Solaron inverters, they can generate a higher financial return from their installations. This benchmark is a testament to our product development team and the collaboration between Advanced Energy and its partners to develop real-world solutions that deliver better LCOE for our customers."
The company states that its renewables business is driving the adoption of solar by lowering the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) for its customers. By providing reliable, easy-to-install Solaron and PV Powered™ inverters and SiteGuard® whole-site O&M services, AE enables utility-scale, commercial, and residential solar project developers to maximize the lifetime value of their power plants.
