SMA Solar Technology AG announces today the acquisition of the module inverters (micro-inverters) technology platform from the Dutch company OKE-Services. In the coming years, SMA will continue to develop this technology and launch its own module inverter product range.In order to expand its product portfolio in the lower range power classes and to meet all customer requirements in the future, SMA Solar Technology AG (SMA) has acquired the micro inverter technology platform from OKE-Services (OKE), a Dutch company. Both parties have agreed to keep the exact purchase price confidential. Unlike the photovoltaic inverter with string technology, which converts the direct current (DC) of numerous interconnected photovoltaic modules into alternating current (AC), a micro inverter converts the DC to AC separately at each individual photovoltaic module.
Micro inverters are particularly well-suited for the use in small photovoltaic systems of 1 kWp or under. In some larger photovoltaic systems which use string inverters, shading of individual modules and the subsequently lower energy harvest of the entire system can be avoided by equipping and operating those modules with individual module inverters.
With the acquisition and further development of the OKE technology, SMA plans to launch its own range of module inverters in the coming years. This makes SMA the only manufacturer in the world with a product portfolio which includes all existing inverter technologies for operating photovoltaic systems of any size and with optimal technical system configuration. SMA customers will continue to profit from highest quality standards, a global sales and service network and short delivery times.
OKE is one of the pioneers of micro inverter technology and has more than 15 years' experience in the development and series production of micro inverters. Based on this experience, OKE has continuously strived to optimize efficiency and specific price, both of which are particularly important parameters for the success of micro inverters. To this end, the company has systematically reduced the number of components used in their products, which is not only a prerequisite for a good price-performance ratio, but also ensures product reliability.
Microinverter firms active on the market today also include Accurate Solar, Azuray, Direct Grid, Enecsys, EnPhase Energy, GreenRay Solar, Larankelo, Petra Solar, SolarBridge.
2 comments:
Just this past June I talked to the SMA folks in Germany and heard that the company founders who have a wealth of know how in the field declared micro-inverter a doomed approach! What changed their mind?
Future inverter class will have to have distributed MPPT for residential installations. Or not since the true value proposition of distributed MPPT is hard and elusive to quantify.
Maybe by stating it was a "doomed approach" was a step to keep the contractual negotiations under wraps and stop any rumors? Surely an acquisition of this size took more than 90 days or so to put together; with all of the legalities and so.
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