Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. (AE) announced that its 500kW Solaron® PV inverters have achieved a 98% efficiency rating from the California Energy Commission (CEC), a record breaking efficiency rating for any inverter in this power class. Advanced Energy also held the previous industry benchmarks of 97% and then 97.5%. By achieving 98% average efficiency without carve-outs for auxiliary power or other adjustments, the company states that it is further distancing its products from competitors in the large commercial and utility-scale solar inverter market.
Inverter efficiency determines the amount of energy converted from a solar array to power that is delivered to the system owner, financier, or utility. Each percentage increase in efficiency leads to additional kilowatt-hours of energy produced, resulting in more cash and RECs generated from a solar PV system. By improving peak energy efficiency to 98.7% and weighted efficiency to 98%, which is one to three percentage points higher than comparable commercial and utility-scale solar PV inverters, Advanced Energy’s new Solaron 500 HE inverters can generate more cash-flow for project developers, owners and financiers.
