Enertronica Santerno unveils high-altitude central inverter

• The Italian manufacturer said the product is based on a technical solution previously used for power downgrading. The device is said to be ideal for projects at altitudes greater than 1,000m.

Italian inverter maker Enertronica Santerno has launched an high-altitude central inverter for large scale PV projects.

The TG1800 EV is based on a technical solution the company previously used for power downgrading, which enables an inverter to operate safely in harsh weather conditions such as extreme temperature changes, highly variable humidity and reduced cooling capacity due to thinner air.

Enertronica said the new, 2 MW device is ideal for installations at higher than 1,000m and is based on the modular architecture of the company’s Sunway TG 1800 central inverter. “The new product was designed to keep its performance unchanged up to an altitude of 2,700m without, therefore, any downgrading for the altitude,” the manufacturer said.

Special casing

The company said it analyzed ten-year monitoring data from its products before designing the new solution, increasing reliability and robustness.

Enertronica said all the sensitive components of the inverter potentially subject to failure are housed in a special casing that can be removed in minutes for repair and recommissioning. “Our new inverter requires less time and procedures than those necessary to replace a string inverter,” Enertronica CEO Vito Nardi told pv magazine. “Even in terms of maintenance, the TG1800 EV product includes a series of options that ensures maintenance costs similar to those of string inverters.”

The manufacturer said the TG1800 EV will enable the developers of large solar parks at altitude to achieve the lowest mean time between repair rate on the market. “It is certainly lower than what is generally obtained with string inverters,” the company added.

Enertronica said it has provided central inverters for more than 1 GW of solar project generation capacity at altitudes above 1,500m in Chile, Peru, China and South Africa.