A new generation of inverters is on the rise: Their functions go far beyond their original task of converting direct current to alternating current. Today, they’re crucial for our renewable 24/7 energy supply. From digitalization, flexibility, stability to communication – they are getting smarter, more intuitive and more integrated.
Digitalization for easy installation, operation and maintenance
As digitalization progresses, it is becoming easier to install, operate and maintain today’s inverters. The use of digital tools for planning, system design and error diagnostics has become common practice. This goes hand in hand with the increasingly widespread use of artificial intelligence and cloud-based energy management apps that clearly visualize energy consumption and self-generated energy.
The latest generation of inverters can be used for various applications. A growing number of manufacturers now offer retrofit options for their systems to protect against events such as power grid failures. Their customers can choose from a range of emergency power options to suit their needs – from supplying individual appliances via the power socket to powering entire households, including large-scale users, via battery storage systems. Because modern inverters have a high scalability and are designed to adapt to changing requirements, they can be used for charging batteries or e-vehicles with excess solar power and to operate heat pumps. As a result, private users and small businesses will not have to replace their inverter when their energy demand increases or they want to upgrade their solar installation.
In an energy system dominated by renewable energies, grid-forming inverters increasingly include frequency stabilization and voltage compensation functions. They play a crucial role in the transition to a power supply system based 100 percent on renewable energies. Up to now, these functions have mostly been performed by synchronous machines in large thermal power plants, which will be decommissioned in the future. Combinations with large battery energy storage systems (BESS) are now forging new paths. These systems can provide grid services such as power system inertia, short circuit power and black start grid restoration after a total blackout. New software configurations will allow inverters to control grid stability services.
High communication and interconnection capabilities are the hallmarks of the latest generation of inverters. With multiple digital switching outputs, LAN ports, an integrated WIFI interface and additional digital interfaces such as Modbus TCP and SG-ready, they are able to provide numerous benefits, such as easy commissioning and system configuration, connection to a smart meter for measuring and visualizing self-consumption, quick monitoring data exchange, as well as the integration of additional consumers such as air conditioners, infrared heaters, heat pumps and heating elements.
