When Dennis Halpape and Alexander Krug journeyed to East Africa for the first time with Kassel-based association TOGETHER – Hilfe für Uganda [Aid for Uganda]  to install a solar system twelve years ago, there was rarely any light to be found for many kilometers in every direction in the region of Kooki after sunset. Today, when it gets dark, there are significantly more lights on in the houses there.

When the inverter’s service life suddenly came to an end, low performance was threatening the profitability of Guntram Grieseler’s solar power plant. He decided to modernize his plant with innovative SMA string inverter technology. As a result, Guntram Grieseler’s plant is now producing even more energy than before. Here’s how it was done.

The best way of cutting your electricity costs as much as possible is simply to turn on your home appliances when your rooftop PV system is generating electricity. The problem with that is that we are often at work or otherwise not at home in the middle of the day when the PV system is generating the most electricity. This means that we can’t switch our appliances on ourselves. That’s why we manage our home appliances automatically with the SMA Sunny Home Manager 2.0. It switches our home appliances on when the PV system is generating sufficient electricity. Read on to find out how we can use this system to save hundreds of euros on electricity costs every year.

It has been over 12 months since our family had a solar system installed. Did we achieve our goal of a zero cost electricity bill? And where do we go with our solar journey now to save electricity and reduce our carbon emissions even further? Read on to find out.

The Fischer/Ruszynski family in Kassel, Germany, generates more energy with their PV system than their household actually needs. The secret to their success: integrated energy. By undertaking their own personal energy transition, they have cut 95% of their energy costs and now consume far fewer natural resources than before. In this article, they share their checklist for people who want to follow in their footsteps.

Clean water is of vital importance in Yemen, one of the world’s most water-scarce countries. Long distances to reach the water supply, the polluting and expensive operation of pumps and the risk of infections such as cholera caused by contaminated drinking water are part of the daily routine for the people of Yemen. The Yemeni government has now started a program for a sustainable water supply.

Chocolate and the sun are actually not a good combination, but the La Ronda chocolate factory in Dubai proves the two can go together very well. The factory is now relying on solar power to manufacture its speciality "Chocodates." The goal is to produce the Chocodates with a zero-carbon footprint.

The UK Solar Energy industry is seeing a huge swing in the direction of Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), recently we discussed this with SMA UK’s client Aniron Renewables’ Sesh Diu and Ian Howat.

Solar power production is finally up and running again at full capacity in West Murray, Australia. The generation caps, which were imposed on five PV power plants over a period of seven months, have now been lifted. And this is all thanks to an innovative control software installed on all the inverters in the PV farms. The software was developed by various experts including SMA’s Christian Hardt and Daniel Premm, who worked around the clock to get the job done.

In the sunny Southwest, students spending their secondary education years at the Albuquerque Academy in Albuquerque, New Mexico follow a school philosophy of achieving knowledge that is actionable. This private college preparatory school offers grades 6 through 12 programs that focus on connecting to the natural world. It is in the spirit of preserving the environment and cultivating innovation that the school relies on solar power.