SMA Sunny Central 800CP Compact Central Solar Inverter Given Intersolar Award 2010

SMA Solar Technology received the Intersolar Award in the photovoltaics category at this year’s Intersolar in Munich for its Sunny Central 800CP, a central inverter specially designed for use in solar power plants. “CP” stands for compact power: the new SMA Sunny Central 800CP central inverter offers output and performance in a small space and is the first PV inverter to offer 800 kVA of nominal power in combination with 98.6 percent efficiency as a single device. Its compact and weatherproof housing also makes it easy to load, offers simple transportation and can be set up nearly anywhere. An additional reason for the distinction was the enormous cost-minimizing potential that the SMA Sunny Central 800CP central inverter offers for the realization of large-scale solar plants.

The background situation: central inverters in this performance category have traditionally been housed in concrete stations, which not only meant substantial material and transport costs, but also respectively high levels of CO2 emissions. Even plant monitoring – previously distributed across the field – is associated with significant planning and installation expenditure.

With the new Sunny Central 800CP, SMA is now able to increase performance by over 25% as compared to comparable devices and simultaneously reduce system costs by up to 35%. Eliminating the concrete station, integrating string monitoring into the inverter and compact construction also make installation significantly easier. Moreover, it considerably reduces CO2 emissions.

The SMA Sunny Central 800CP has been produced in Europe since May 2010 and is expected to be available to the North American market by the fourth quarter of this year.