FIMER Launches 2 New Platforms for Utility PV Market

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Leading solar inverter supplier FIMER has announced the launch of two new platforms for the utility-scale sector – a high-power multi-MPPT string inverter and a modular conversion solution – which are designed to cater for both decentralized and centralized applications covering 100 percent of utility applications.

With the most recent Renewable Energy Market Update from the International Energy Agency stating that the share of utility scale applications will increase from over 55 percent in 2020 to almost 70 percent in 2022, the need for reliable, flexible and high-power density solutions is now paramount to meeting market requirements, today and in the future.

As a result, string solutions have become the most popular technology for the global utility market, thanks to the modular conversion offering higher yield, minimal long-term risk and lower O&M efforts to achieve lowest LCOE compared to a central solution.

FIMER’s new PVS-350 is a powerful and power dense multi-MPPT string inverter, optimized for decentralized PV system architectures with a maximum efficiency of ɳMAX > 99 percent to ensure the highest energy yield It also claimed to have the smallest footprint when compared to other similar products, and significantly reduces the risk of downtime that can occur with central inverters.

For centralized system architectures – which currently account for almost 40 percent of the market – FIMER is also launching PVS-260/PVS-300, a fully-modular solution engineered with a single-MPPT string platform. It is expected to easily replace central inverters in more traditional designs, significantly improving performance and lowering BoP costs, optimizing the LCOE – achieving a 2.3 percent reduction on the LCOE of a modular conversion architecture compared to a central solution.

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It is also said to have higher system availability, above 99.9 percent compared to 99.5 percent maximum from central solutions. In addition, the PVS-260/PVS-300 has a large capacity combined with super-compact design single MPPT power block, to enable system designers to keep a ‘centralized’ system architecture if preferred. All power electronics are also concentrated nearby to the other critical AC power assets to simplify control and routine maintenance.

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By combining the power modules in a factory pre-assembled and pretested MV station, the new platform is expected to compete with multi-megawatt scale station designs of the latest central inverters, allowing system designers to apply the modular architecture to systems of any size. The new platforms will also be easily able to integrate with future requirements for battery storage, providing a whole-system solution for the utility market now and in the future.

While the move away from central inverters to string technologies in the utility sector has increased over the past five years, FIMER recognizes that centralized architectures are still prevalent. That is why the company has developed the PVS-350 inverter and PVS-260/PVS-300 modular conversion platform to cater for both decentralized and centralized applications.

Maren Schmidt, Managing Director of the Utility line of business, explained: “With the utility sector predicted to grow significantly over the next few years, we wanted to offer a solution that maximizes ROI on both conventional system architectures and all other emerging system arrangements including storage, while maintaining the essential values of modularity.”

“These unique-to-the-market solutions are truly ground-breaking platforms for the utility segment, as they are able to meet the needs of utility-scale customers now, as well as easily adapt to and integrate with technologies in the future.”

Filippo Carzaniga, Chairman at FIMER, added: “It is a rapidly growing market and, as a result, FIMER recently announced plans to create a dedicated Research & Development Center in Italy for utility. As part of this commitment to R&D, we have exciting launches planned later this year, which will bring more innovation to the market.”

FIMER has also launched its ‘new era of FIMER’, a 360° immersive virtual experience which allows customers from all over the world to explore FIMER’s facilities, innovotations and processes at its global HQ in Vimercate and its Terranuova Bracciolini R&D and production plant, from their own laptops or smart devices.