Batteries are taking on an increasingly important role in decentralized energy systems and constitute the heart of off-grid systems. They can also be increasingly found in on-grid systems, where they can cut energy purchase costs by means of increased self-consumption or peak load shaving. Battery monitoring plays a key role here. After all, PV system operators want to know whether their systems are actually working as intended, because downtime costs money and causes hassle. That is why SMA is offering a comprehensive upgrade for battery analysis via ennexOS.

Approximately 1,000 people live in the village of Gutu in Nepal, about 800 kilometers away from the capital city of Kathmandu. There is no public electricity supply. Until recently, everybody shifted for himself: open fires to cook on and smoke in the house, a huge stock of candles or the hum of the diesel generator at the local metal processing company were a part of everyday life. Find out why the village inhabitants have been able to leave all this behind them.

Charging your electric vehicle at home helps you save time and money— especially when the charging process is intelligently integrated into your home energy system. At the 3rd E-Mobility Plugfest at the Audi plant in Brussels, communication between the charging infrastructure and other energy generators and consumers was put to the test.

(Update 4/2/2019 – multibattery functionality) Starting in June, the powerful SMA battery inverter Sunny Boy Storage 3.7/5.0/6.0 for private homes...

In Australia, over 2 million households enjoy safe and clean energy from PV systems. Spread fears about PV safety are unfounded and used to sell add-on safety products. Comprehensive studies indicate existing PV systems are generally safe, fires are rare, and firefighters are still able to work safely.

Today we published SMA’s results in 2018. It was a very challenging year that we had originally started with a...

Businesses face the challenge of hacking to prevent cyber attacks. SMA is prepared for digitization and cyber security requirements.

Operators and owners of PV plants connected via Webconnect or Sunny Home Manager to Sunny Portal can now get an additional reward for their produced clean energy. With only a few clicks you get access to SolarCoin, the first energy-referenced currency.

The aim of PV system operators is to achieve the highest yield and most efficient operation. However, reality can be rather different. Some Distribution Network Operators (DNO’s) or local connection conditions for residential storage systems require a limitation on the maximum PV feed-in power at the grid-connection point. So, if a PV system produces too much energy, it has to be curtailed and the highly valuable resource, solar power, goes to waste. SMA’s forecast-based battery charging feature helps combat this.

Australia is one of the world’s most exciting and promising photovoltaic markets, which was once again confirmed in the course of a number of conversations with customers during my visit last week. In all probability, after its record year in 2018, the Australian PV market will significantly grow again to 4.4 gigawatts this year. In addition to photovoltaics, storage systems are becoming ever more important, not only for independent electricity supplies for homes but also, in particular, for the power plant segment.