SolarEdge
| SolarEdge Technologies Inc.
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| legal form | Inc. |
| ISIN | US83417M1045 |
| founding | 2006 |
| Seat |
Hod Hasharon Israel
|
| Branch | Photovoltaics |
| Website | www.solaredge.de |
SolarEdge is a provider of photovoltaic energy generation, optimization and monitoring systems. The company is headquartered in Israel with development sites in Germany and Italy, as well as offices in other countries.
The company develops and sells photovoltaic modules , inverters , power optimizers , battery storage systems and matching and associated systems (called "Smart Energy") and monitoring platforms.
function
Traditional photovoltaics are usually characterized by centralized inverters . Since solar modules are always connected in series in a string, the same current flows through all modules. The inverter regulates its input current per string to a point of maximum power averaged over the modules, the so-called Maximum Power Point (MPP). The type of regulation is called Maximum Power Point Tracking . As a result, power is always lost as soon as there is a mismatch of the modules, which in many cases cannot be prevented due to tolerances in the manufacturing process, partial shading, uneven degrees of soiling and uneven alignment. In addition, losses can occur due to sluggish controller behavior of the MPP controller in dynamic weather conditions (changeable radiation from clouds), as well as losses due to exceeding or falling below the permitted input voltage of the inverter on extremely hot or cold days.
In addition, traditional (centralized) PV architectures face further challenges: The string length and alignment of the modules result in restrictions in system planning. System monitoring and fault detection are limited to the inverter (or in some cases to the cable strands). The high DC voltage poses a risk for installers and fire fighters.
Energy losses due to mismatching are avoided in that MPPT is carried out individually for each module and the individual modules are not connected in series in a string. The string tension remains at a fixed value, so that the strings can be combined regardless of their length and modules of different types and angles of inclination. Continuous performance measurement enables online monitoring and error detection at module level. The safety for installers and firefighters is guaranteed by the DC voltage being switched off until the inverter is connected or switched on.
This system of performance optimization for PV modules can be operated with or without a SolarEdge inverter.
Performance optimization with SolarEdge inverters
The SolarEdge system consists of three components:
- SolarEdge power optimizers : The power optimizers are embedded in the solar modules instead of the junction box, or they can be retrofitted to the PV modules by installers. The power optimizers optimize the output power of the modules through MPP control and ensure a fixed string voltage. This allows greater freedom in the design of optimal PV systems (e.g. strings of different lengths or orientations can be connected in parallel).
- SolarEdge inverter : Since the MPPT control and the control of the string voltage are carried out by the power optimizer, the SolarEdge inverter is only responsible for generating the grid- side AC voltage.
- The SolarEdge Monitoring Portal is a web-based application. The software detects a variety of performance-related problems that might otherwise go undetected, and generates automatic warning messages. SolarEdge Monitoring is integrated in every PowerBox and communicates via the existing cabling.
SolarEdge power optimizers have a so-called SafeDC ™ mechanism, through which the power optimizers , as soon as they are connected to a PV module, have a safe voltage of only about 1V DC until the power optimizers
- with a SolarEdge inverter or
- with the SolarEdge Safety & Monitoring Interface (SMI)
are connected.
Performance optimization without SolarEdge inverters
SolarEdge power optimizers can also be connected to inverters from other manufacturers. There are two possible applications:
- with the SolarEdge Safety & Monitoring Interface (SMI),
- without an SMI.
If the SMI is not used, the SafeDC ™ mechanism, through which the power optimizers have a safe voltage of only about 1V as soon as they are connected to a PV module, must be switched off. This is done with the SolarEdge key. The switching status, SafeDC ™ mechanism switched on or off, is not displayed on the inverter or the power optimizers. After the SafeDC ™ mechanism has been switched off, the open circuit voltage of the modules is applied to the strings (several hundred volts DC). Multiple power optimizers in a string can be turned off at the same time. A minimum of 4 and a maximum of 30 power optimizers must be combined in one string (or up to a maximum of 1000 V DC system voltage).
Awards
SolarEdge received the following awards in particular:
- Frost & Sullivan: "2009 European Solar Photovoltaic Hot Investment Opportunity Award" (9/2009)
- Guardian UK and Cleantech Group: Awarded as a company of the "Global Cleantech 100" (9/2009)
- Cleantech 2009 Tradeshow: “The Exceptional Product in the Environmental Protection Arena” award (6/2009).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Frost & Sullivan Picks SolarEdge for Hot Investment Opportunity Award in European Solar Photovoltaic Market . Frost & Sullivan. September 10, 2009. Retrieved October 10, 2009.
- ↑ Invert your thinking: Squeezing more power out of your solar panels . Scientific American. August 28, 2009. Retrieved October 10, 2009.
- ↑ Power Booster . Photon International Magazine. August 2009. Archived from the original on July 15, 2011. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved October 10, 2009.
- ↑ Photovoltaic Modules, Systems and Applications, pages 17-18 . Nicolla M. Pearsall & Robert Hill. 2001. Archived from the original on June 1, 2010. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved October 10, 2009.
- ^ Pablo Sanchis, Jesús López, Alfredo Ursúa, Eugenio Gubía, Luis Marroyo: On the testing, characterization, and evaluation of PV inverters and dynamic MPPT performance under real varying operating conditions. In: Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications. 15, 2007, p. 541, doi : 10.1002 / pip.763 .
- ↑ Playing with fire . Photon International Magazine. August 2009. Archived from the original on July 15, 2011. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved October 10, 2009.
- ↑ Not approved as a fire brigade switch in Germany and Austria because it is a purely electronic switch.
- ↑ S afety & M onitoring I nterface.
- ^ The Global Cleantech 100 . The Guardian. September 9, 2009. Retrieved October 10, 2009.
